


Glass Half Empty

by Witness_ME_Losers



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alpha!Jet, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Anxiety, Bamf Iroh, Bittersweet, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, M/M, Possessive Jet, Possessive Zuko, Possibly Unhinged Jet, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Iroh, Protective Jet, Protective Smellerbee, Protective Zuko, Suspicious and Anxious Zuko, omega!Zuko
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-02-14 14:50:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 43,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13010115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Witness_ME_Losers/pseuds/Witness_ME_Losers
Summary: Jet had left the forests for Ba-Sing-Se to start a new and normal life although thoughts of a static life scares him, but if Li an anxious, ill-tempered, trapped refugee he'd just met could suck it up and do it, so can he. Besides, as long as Li is there he feels his life won't be as boring, especially since he felt as if Li was meant for so much more than simplicity. ABO DYNAMICS!





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> I'm tired. I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.

**Glass Half Empty**

**I**

There was a feeling Jet treasured amongst the rest, it was the pure euphoria of knowing that you were alive as it was one thing to still feel your heart steadily beating but another to know that you were well and truly alive, whilst one offered nothing more than the bat of an eyelash the other hit you with the force of a massive gale wind. It was a feeling Jet knew he would give up the second the ferry came, the ferry that would take them across the large body of water and to Ba-Sing-Se, the "Impenetrable City" that housed tantalizing promises for the weak and downtrodden, the lost and the searching . . . Jet and his two most loyal were amongst the group of people searching for that new chance at life.

But boarding the ferry with both Longshot and Smellerbee following close behind the second they're given the okay, he begins to reflect upon his "old life" and wonders for a brief second what domesticity will do for souls like them, still so young but having spilled blood and committed atrocities in the name of freedom, that of which they were named after, having grown wild and, in a sense, feral, with no man to answer to. Could they really give up all of those hardships they've weathered through for something so new and untainted? Could they forget about the soldiers they relished killing and those they've lost in those battles as rare as it had been? Could Jet really give up that large portion of himself devoted to the war?

The answers don't sit well with him nor do the speculative daydreams of an easy life, but he really does want to start over with a new group and with both of his friends pushing for it and wanting it just as bad, if not more than he, then he wasn't going to deny them such a luxury just because he hadn't wanted to give up that part of his life.

Aboard the ferry and with it setting sail, he wanders the ferry's wooden deck, slipping around and in between others who have lost and are searching. Jet not daring to chance a look at their gaunt and distant faces for fear of his old hatred stirring back to life, not after he'd tried so hard to bury it after the dam fiasco because it's just too much for him, that vicious rage and poisoning hatred killing him bit by bit. The lean teenager locates a small space he can occupy and takes to resting against one of the wooden supports . . . even though they are on the journey, the beginning of the transition to their new lives within the great walls, there is still so much wrong with the sights before him. Granted, he knew better than to expect things to do a complete turn-around so suddenly, but he at least assumed that there would be  **some** difference. Like the food, for example. The gruel was hideous and made his stomach churn uncomfortably, the liquid looking nothing more than dirty water and the chunks looking rancid, the hocking from some of the other partakers of the dish on board caused his fickle appetite to diminish even more, the hunger disappearing completely when some of the refugees slurped the slop down like it was the best they've ever had, and knowing the situation the world was in, it wasn't too far a stretch to think that it was for most . . . his chest aches with that familiar biting anger and his throat clenches, the urge to rage clawing just beneath his skin and screaming to be voiced for all to hear. It was extremely tiring.

The Freedom Fighter leader had conjured up a brief plan of looting the kitchens for better meals but thought better of it for not only did it go against what they originally came here to do, but it would require some more help that they just did not have . . . someone passes by, their scent brushing against the tanned male's nose causing his body to flinch away from the horrible odor, his nose scrunching up in distaste. That's another thing he's noticed. The refugees surrounding them all had repugnant smells varying from passable to downright rotten. Body odor at its finest. Now he and his Freedom Fighters hadn't been the cleanliest of bunches out there, but they at least had regular bathing once or twice a week to stave off the ripening of their own personal smells.

Sniffing to remove the odor from his nose, he turns his head away and towards a group of refugees, he isn't really staring at the pack talking amongst themselves, more like  **beyond** them. His mind miles and distances away from their underwhelming transport, back within a colorful forest filled with fresh scents and the soothing feeling of belonging. It's only when the group moves away does he come back, like the string on Longshot's bow each time he draws and releases an arrow, but even then it takes him a second to really notice the pair standing near the railing of the ferry, far from the other refugees. They're just as dull as the rest of the dirty and downtrodden refugees, nothing really popping out at him except for the duly noted tension in the younger stranger's body. They're muttering to one another until the younger takes, what Jet assumes, a sip of the bowl he'd apparently been nursing only to spit it back out and hack . . . it's when his voice raises enough for the tanned male to hear does he feel that voice tug at something within him that brings his earlier plan of raiding the kitchens for better food return. The fact that he was so openly and angrily complaining about the food like he was used to better made him perfect for the plan.

"Aren't we all?" he asks rhetorically, this catches the attention of both strangers, the old man watching genuine curiosity while his younger companion looks at them from over a shoulder. Jet sees it then. That terrible scar that slants his left eye, forever freezing it into something so mean and hateful. "My name is Jet." he goes on, not letting the sudden appearance of it hinder him, he steps forward gesturing to both Longshot and Smellerbee who are all but ready to follow him, "And these are my Freedom Fighters: Smellerbee and Longshot."

"Hey."

Longshot nods.

The young stranger continues glaring them down but turns away and gives them a lame, "Hello."

That one word tense and as apprehensive as his body language, but it calls to something deeper even if there really is nothing behind that one word. Rather. It's the way it is said. The boy is guarded, most likely jaded. That scar has a story behind it that paints a shadow of mystery across the strange young man and Jet wants to know, he wants to get to know the other.

He takes a few steps closer while he speaks, "Here's the deal." the old man is looking at him, but he knows the other is listening as well so he continues, "I hear the captain's eating like a king," he takes even more steps closer, he knows the other knows for his shoulders hike up just the tiniest fraction, "whilst us refugees have to feed off the scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"

"What sort of king is he eating like?"

The old man asks.

Jet casts him a glance, "The fat happy kind." the food isn't as grand but it comes close, he sees the old man drool and turns his attention back to the stiff companion. If there was a chance the other would reject his offer, he was sure his instincts to provide for his elder companion would kick in. "So. Wanna help us  _liberate_ some food?"

The scarred teen remains silent before he tosses the slop overboard and into the distant waters, as he turns he says in a tone that is final and decisive, "I'm in."

The Freedom Fighter leader can't stop his pleased smirk from spreading . . . Jet soon learns the names of the two refugees and knows without a doubt that the given names are false, but doesn't dwell too much on it as people are allowed their secrets since he himself has a few that he would rather not have dragged in to the light, such as . . . he shuts his mind down as that memory and those thoughts or feelings have no place in the present, in the life he was trying to start. Instead, he goes over his plans with his cohorts and the newest addition.

As he talks, his eyes constantly turning to Li who remains silent and pensive, staring at nothing in particular but listening. Jet understands that not everyone is forthcoming so it's only when they polish off their plan and start to part ways does Jet speak to Li, stopping him with one word that sets Li off spectacularly and has him pinned against the nearest wooden wall with Jet holding his hands up as he stares down into the eyes of someone hiding so much.

Li finally snarls, voice gnarled, "How?"

"I couldn't tell at first since your scent was kind of . . . stale." Jet starts, "But get close enough like this, and you can smell it just beneath the stale front. You're an Omega." Li hisses and recoils at the  **O** word and pushes himself away, he takes a couple of steps back, looking trapped and a tiny bit fearful. It makes Jet wonder once again what he hides behind that scar. "Don't worry." he says, but Li doesn't stop his pacing, "I won't tell."

Li scoffs, loud and harsh, "Like I'm supposed to believe that?"

"I keep my promises."

Which is a total like as he'd promised many things to others in the past, even a few to Katara, that he'd broken either accidentally or actively. Actively having been the more prominent out of the two. But with Li looking so anxious and stuck, he'd make an active attempt, besides he legitimately wanted to become Li's friend because they felt so similar, enough so that Jet felt a connection he'd never had before with any of his Freedom Fighters . . . the night they pull off the liberating of the food, Jet is impressed by the way Li moves, silent and no stranger to stealth or those dual swords strapped to his back. Once again, he wonders.

After distributing the food to the other refugees and takes a seat with both Li and his uncle, Mushi, he finds himself picking out the discrepancies of other Omegas versus Li: Omegas were fine young things with not a blemish in sight, they had wide doe-eyes that held innocence and naivety, their bodies were lithe without an ounce of fat or muscle, they were docile and sweet, their hair long and silky, they were feminine and often dressed in silks and other fine fabrics that often held little to no protection, only serving to taunt their viewer. Li's skin was blemish free despite the scar that forever made him look angry, his eyes were shrewd and filled with suspicion, tracking the movement of anyone near him, the only exception being his uncle, although Li did seem a little on the naïve side when it came to interacting with others, Li was slim but that was thanks to starvation, he did have muscle definition though, he was  **definitely not** docile or sweet, his emotions ranging from angry to seriously angry and he was not afraid to voice his annoyance or opinions, in that way he was brash, while Li's hair did look soft it wasn't long or silky, and it was obvious that Li was male, he probably dressed in fine clothing once but he was pretty sure that they were modest.

Back in the forest when they would pillage the camps of Fire Nation soldiers, they would come across inappropriate scrolls with Omegas wet and presenting, pleasuring themselves in some form. These scrolls were sometimes passed amongst the older Freedom Fighters who would make sure it stayed out of the younger members' hands, Jet having gotten off on these scrolls once or twice and often thinking of meeting a pretty little Omega of his own, but now faced with a one of a kind Omega like Li he felt unreasonably ashamed of what he'd done despite not having known of the other at that time.

Li was different and Jet liked that.

There was just something about the other refugee that made Jet want to get to know him better, to be able to slip past some of the obvious walls built up bigger and stronger than Ba-Sing-Se's, and this feeling was something Jet knew had nothing to do with the fact that Li was an Omega. Spirits, even if Li was a Beta, or say an Alpha, he'd still feel that pull calling to him. It was real and indescribable . . . he thinks back to his discomfort earlier that day. Domesticity wasn't something he knew how to do and the thought of staying one place for so long without any real purpose made his skin itch and his body restless. But if Li, short-tempered, indignant, and trapped Li with a million secrets hiding behind that false name and oh-so real scar could, then so could Jet because in the end, he duly felt as if Li had been a part of something so much bigger, was  **meant** for something so much bigger than a simple life.

They would have a simple life, even if it killed them on the inside.


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm tired AND hungry . . . but here's this.

**Glass Half Empty**

**II**

The first few fleeting seconds, Jet wakes within his bedding back in the forests with nothing but warmth and nature cadence surrounding him, but the hazy fog within his head clears and the reality of where he is and where he's going comes crashing down around him, and it leaves him . . . lost and stripped bare. Swallowing the bitter feeling back into the depths of his body, he pushes himself up into an upright sitting position, ignoring the aches in several of his joints and the stiffness of his muscles. Getting to his feet, he leaves the den of mingling and mangled scents of the refugees, exiting from the lower level of the ferry, he's hit with the biting cold of the mid-morning air. There are still people sleeping on deck and he wonders for a split second how anyone can sleep in such a cold setting with such thin sheets or no cover, at least he'd had furs to keep him warm during the forest winters.

Absently, his eyes start searching out the forms of Mushi and Li, he spots the former sleeping soundly but the latter is subsequently missing. Already scanning the fog blanketed deck, he spots a vague figure at the bow of the front of the ship, looking out over the calm waters.

Approaching the still figure, he's assured that it is indeed, "You know." he starts as he slides into place beside the smaller male, "As soon as I saw your scar, I knew exactly who you were." he doesn't miss the tension in Li's body, the subtle shifting or the way he glances at him from the corner of his eyes, "You're an outcast. Like me." the tension is still there but he seems to relax a little bit, "And we outcasts have to stick together. Watch each other's backs," he takes a quick look at Li, "because no one else will."

For a moment, Jet thinks Li will ignore him and remain silent or demand he leave . . . but something must have stuck for the dour young man parts with a line that seems to mean so much more than it would for someone who hasn't endured their kind of hardships, or for someone who knows Li better than Jet.

"I've realized that being on your own isn't always the best path."

They fall into silence, staring out over the waters together with Jet feeling no need to fill it with pointless banter after a line like that and Li most likely not wanting to talk at all. It takes moments for the walls of Ba-Sing-Se to come in to view, and it's just as grand as he'd imagined it would be, as Mushi had said it would be. Beside him, Li starts to shift in place so Jet glances at him.

"Bye."

Jet watches the Omega turn on his heel and disappear into the fog, most likely returning to his uncle's side. In Li's wake, he can  **barely** detect something a little different in his scent, it isn't as flat as it had been the day before. Turning back to face the approaching walls, he knows he should feel excited, perhaps relieved, but all he can feel are those walls closing in on him and its terrifying . . . he doesn't take in the fact that Li had felt obligated enough to bid him farewell until they're all leaving the ferry and Li disappearing into the crowds with his uncle at his side.

**G-H-E**

They're stepping inside a large cavern like room with several booths lined up where workers look over identifications and permit entrance, Jet's eyes immediately fall on Li who looks nothing short of bored. Now that he knows of the other refugee, it makes it easier for him to pick out the anxious male from the crowds of droning colors bleeding together, despite Li wearing clothes just as drab as the rest of the thankful refugees. Jet wanted, he wanted closeness, he wanted someone who could understand him and his motives, someone who would not condemn him for his past actions, someone who would know what it was like to carry the heavy burden of secrets, and Li, he fit that bill down to a "t", Li like some kind of beacon in the colorless sea and he a mindless moth tantalized by the radiant light, but it was up to the terse male on whether or not he wanted to burn Jet or allow him to bask in the warmth.

Jet stares as Li and Mushi leave the line, he reaches up to toy with the steam of his wheat stalk, "I think Li would make a great Freedom Fighter." he turns to his two companions as he continues, "He's just trying to find his way in the world, like us."

And it's true . . . there was just something about Li that seemed to be missing, like he was missing a large portion of himself and he was just as lost as the others, trying to find that something to fill in that sudden gap in his person.

Smellerbee looks up at him, arms crossed, "You don't know anything about him Jet."

"I know he didn't get that scar from a waterbender."

"Besides," the girl continues, "I thought we were going straight now."

"We are." Jet assures, "And I think the new Freedom Fighters could use a guy like Li." he glances at Longshot, "What do you think, Longshot?" Longshot meets his gaze and Jet feels some part of him wilt underneath the other's stare as he manages to imprint his thoughts, he removes his stalk as he says, "I can respect that."

They get through quickly enough without any trouble and Jet really is minding his own business when his eyes happen to be drawn towards a certain area of the station, a certain spot where he spies Li and his uncle sitting on one of the circular benches. Li is angled so his torso is closer to his uncle, an unconscious safety net, with his arms crossed over his chest, keeping others from him, and his eyes watching whoever manages to get too close, suspicion and annoyance written within them, and once again Jet feels that incredible pull. His feet are taking him over to the two and he takes a seat beside Li, copying the other's body language in an attempt to show that he can relate, the other of course tenses but keeps that same scowl on his face as he sends a glance Jet's way.

"So, you guys got plans once you're inside the city?"

No one gets to say a word, let alone an attempt, when a man advertising cups of tea interrupts them, sufficiently taking Li's attention away from him and to the tea-peddler, Jet feels a prick of annoyance at having been interrupted:

"Get your hot tea here! Finest tea in Ba-Sing-Se!"

"Oh!" Mushi waves his arm, catching the man's attention, "Jasmine, please!"

Li watches the tea provider leave, his eyes narrowed and suspicious, as if he were expecting the sad looking man to suddenly turn and spring at them, frothing at the mouth . . . it takes his uncle gagging and spitting the tea out for Li's attention to swing back to his relative. Mushi holds the cup away and exclaims, as if offended:

"Coldest tea in Ba-Sing-Se is more like it!" he points at the cup, glancing at Li who very much does not care about the state of the tea, "What a disgrace!"

It's then that Jet knows he isn't going to be able to convince Li of much with his crazy old uncle there to distract him, he had to strip Li of his security blanket before he could approach him with what he wanted, he sits up, scoots to the edge of the seat.

"Hey. Mind if I talk to you for a second?" behind him, he can hear Li sigh followed by his barely audible footsteps, he angles his body so he's facing Li a little as he walks, "You and I have a much better chance of making it in the city if we stick together." he stops and faces Li, "You wanna join the Freedom Fighters?"

Li doesn't show much of anything, but he does look away as if in contemplation before a frown darkens his face, he seems to curl in on himself, "I don't think you'd want someone like me in your gang, I'd slow you down, or have you forgotten of what I am?"

"C'mon Li, that didn't seem to make much of a difference between us." Jet tries, "You and I made such a great team looting the captain's food, O . . . ," he stops himself when Li bristles and a quiet snarl leaving the tense man, he quickly backtracks and omits the  **O** word, a word which Jet was beginning to learn was a forbidden word around Li, " . . . ranks don't mean a thing." he then gestures to the people around them, "Just think of all the good we can do for these refugees."

"You don't seem to get it." Li hisses, he's glaring now, "I'm an . . . my rank means I go into heat for an entire week once a month. Do you know what heats do to the people around me?"

"Li . . . ,"

"I don't know you and I don't quite trust you, so forgive me if I'm hesitant with leaving my uncle for a group I've only known of for about a day." Li seems to look around a moment before turning back, "You do know what that means if people find out?"

"I saw a couple of Omegas walking around earlier." Jet states, he'd seen more Omegas within moments of being here than he has his entire life in the forests, "And they all seemed perfectly fine."

"That's because you're an Alpha." Li spits, he's scowling at Jet, all traces of self-deprecation gone from his body, "You can't pick up the nuances like I can. You can't see what they're hiding. And life out there, and in here, wasn't easy for them."

Jet remembers Li telling him how it wasn't always best to be on your own, he feels like he's been doused in ice water or rather something similar to the feeling of Katara sending whips of water into his chest and then freezing him to the tree.

"Were you . . . ?"

Li looks back at him, his eyes having wandered to a pair of Alphas who'd wandered too close, he seems almost confused before realization hits him hard, he takes a step away shaking his head, "No. No, nothing like that happened, but . . . ,"  _I didn't make it easy._ " . . . some threatened to."

The icy dread turns to a hazing rage, his eyes flit to Li's scar, "Is that how . . . ?"

Li notices and seems like he'd love nothing more than to disappear, or punch Jet, or both, "No." he seems to recover and turns away from Jet, "You don't need me in your gang."

Jet actually reaches out and grabs Li's wrist, stopping the latter from leaving, he sees Li tense and turn to give him one of the nastiest scowls he's ever seen before ripping his wrist from Jet's hold, "I could . . . ,"

"Could what?" Li hisses, he's facing Jet fully, "Protect me?"

Jet realizes that yeah, he was going to tell Li that he could protect him, keep him safe if he needed, do his best to leave Li not wanting for anything . . . Li seems to know this too for he sniffs disinterestedly and starts turning once more, whatever patience he'd had was gone, but before he takes the first step away from this, he glares at Jet from over his shoulder and spits.

"I can take care of myself."

With that, the indignant male storms back to his uncle's side, his uncle apparently having finished his tea despite the old man claiming it to be a disgrace. Mushi seems to murmur to Li, his eyes on Jet in suspicion, but Li is mad and makes a show of snapping at the older Alpha . . . Jet is stunned, his own Alpha half urging him to call out or even bring Li back, to protect the  **Omega** with suspicious eyes and tension bleeding into the air around him, but the human half of Jet lets Li go because he understands that Li is his own person and no one was going to be  **owning** him anytime soon. Not that Jet wanted to own him, he just . . . he didn't know.

This strange pull was . . .  **strange.**

When the train comes and everyone starts to board, Smellerbee prods at his ribs, he turns his attention away from Li and Mushi. Mushi cooing over a baby that is beside him, and Li looking just as grumpy as ever, the baby having no affect on him:

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Jet says, because he doesn't know what is happening.

**G-H-E**

People.

That's the one thing that Jet is really fully able to grasp . . . he can't take a step without bumping into someone, he can't turn a corner without smelling someone, and he can't shut his eyes without hearing someone. Peddlers, refugees, low-lives, people from different walks of life, of different professions, they're all jam-packed within the lower ring like a pack of fish. And as he walks the streets with his only friends, he isn't sure if that's a good thing or not.

And the walls, Spirits the walls and restrictions.

"You owe me!"

Jet stops in place, turning to see what the commotion is, only to stop along with Longshot and Smellerbee when he sees a burly man grabbing the thin wrist of another younger man. The burly man is clearly Alpha as he reeks of Alpha pheromones, and the latter Omega as evidence of the rich, sweet scent rolling off of him.

"You were kicked out!" the Omega exclaims, trying to free his thin wrist, "We don't owe you service of any kind!"

The Alpha tugs harshly on the Omega's arm, the lithe man stumbling into him, the burly man sneers as he says, "I guess I'll just have to take what I want then."

And that sets Jet off because not only is the man threatening rape, but no one was going to do a single thing until the guards appeared, which it seemed like they wouldn't in time.

"Hey." he says, stepping out of the ring of onlookers. All eyes are on him now. "Let him go."

The burly Alpha growls, "Mind your own damn business kid."

"Coming from someone like you who can't seem to take "no" for an answer, I think I'm the more adult one in this situation." Jet revels in the way the other man starts to square up, indignation written across his face. "The guy said he didn't owe you anything."

At this, the man remembers the Omega he'd been holding onto, he yanks him around as he spits, "He owes me a night! I paid good money for him!"

"You were violent!" the Omega snaps, desperately clawing at the man's hand, "The Mistress of the Brothel kicked you out!"

"Shut up!" the man shakes the younger male, before turning his angry gaze to Jet, "And you! You'd understand more of what's happening if you popped your knot!"

"I have." Jet says easily, and he has for the simple stress release but he assumes there must be some kind of difference with Omega's, an Alpha's other half. Of course his mind immediately falls upon Li. "But I don't bully people into it." he forces Li out of his thoughts and offers a lupine grin, "It'd be kinda sad if that was the only way you could get it, don't you think? What does that say about you as a person no one wants to touch?"

_He's in rut._

Jet thinks a second after the burly Alpha shoves the Omega away and charges . . . Jet side-steps and gets behind the man before he can turn, he wraps an arm around the man's throat and grabs his own wrist, locking the man's head in place, he kicks the back of the man's knees, making the man fall to his knees, he goes down easily enough with the taller Alpha. The burly Alpha struggles but stops when Jet tightens his hold. Any second and the man will pass out.

Ah.

There he goes.

Releasing his hold on the man, he stands, watching the man slump forward in an undignified manner. Cheers erupt from the crowd that he had once been a part of and guards soon enter the scene demanding to know what had happened, the people immediately take Jet's side and the unconscious Alpha is taken away. It feels good to have helped . . . he wonders what it would have been like if Li were with him to help.

"Thank you." someone at his side says, Jet turns and notices that it's the Omega, he also spots the subtle presentation moves the Omega is making, "Why don't I  **repay** you for your kindness?"

Jet opens his mouth to respond, but stops halfway the second he spots two familiar faces within the crowd. The second his eyes meet Li's, Li turns and starts walking away. The young Alpha is brought back to his own body when he feels a gentle touch to his arm, he turns to the Omega he'd just saved and offers a charming smile.

"You don't need to do that." he says, "I only did what I felt was right."

The Omega is about to reply but Jet is already walking away, both Smellerbee and Longshot following shortly after him. Exiting the dispersing crowd, he scans the area and manages to spot both Li and Mushi. Feeling a little lighter, he starts approaching.

"Jet." Smellerbee says in warning.

Jet pauses a moment, "What?"

"I don't think you should bother Li."

"I'm not bothering him." Jet says in way of defense. "I'm just going to talk with him."

Smellerbee frowns nonetheless, "Fine." she huffs, "But Longshot and I are going to look for jobs since we'll need the money." she turns away, "Come on, Long."

Jet watches Smellerbee leave, Longshot giving him a nod before he follows after her. The tan male frowns at the back of his friends and follows after the uncle and nephew duo. It isn't too hard to find Li as he seems to stick out like a sore thumb, tense and all. Jet eases into place beside Li.

"Hey."

Li tenses, "Hi."

Jet watches Mushi converse with the florist, "How's the city treating you so far?"

"Great."

Silence.

"That's it?"

"What do you want me to say?" Li hisses, "I hate this place and these people."

"You just got here." Jet says, amused with Li's dour attitude . . . he absently wonders if Li would ever try to  **repay** someone like the previous Omega. Jet makes a show of looking around. "I don't think it's too bad."

Li finally looks at him and seems to study him a moment before turning to look back at his uncle, the old man having purchased a bouquet of flowers, "I'm not sure if you expect me to believe that or not." Jet blinks, so Li continues, "Back at the ferry, you said that we were the same. Outcasts. If that's true, then this place is just as suffocating to you as it is to me." Jet stares, completely gob-smacked before he starts laughing, his sudden laughter earning Li's ire, "What?"

"Okay." Jet chuckles, "I'll admit this place isn't all that great. But I've only been here for a few hours so I can't say."

Li continues scowling at him but turns away in the end.

Mushi is approaching them soon enough, the old man in high spirits as he presents the vase.

"Jet, hello!" Mushi hoists the vase he'd gotten higher in his hold, "We just bought some flowers to liven the place up~!" he then sends a sly smile Li's way, "Just in case someone brings home a special someone~."

Li, for the most part, looks mortified at the suggestion but the look quickly gives way to annoyance, "I'm not bringing  **anyone** home."

Jet watches the two interact and has to wonder what it would take for Li to consider someone acceptable enough to take home. Jet knows he has some redeeming qualities: he's strong, knows how to fight, can provide for others, knows how to take care of children. Would any of that be enough for Li?

Pause.

Jet rethinks his train of thought . . . that would make so much sense, his interest in Li . . . the tanned Alpha glances curiously at the two, Li becoming incensed with something his uncle is saying while Mushi takes it all in stride, most likely used to Li's prickly attitude . . . he was attracted to Li.

"Why don't you and your friends join us for dinner, Jet?"

Li interrupts with a snappish, "He doesn't need to eat with us."

But Jet doesn't take offence, he now understands that that's just the way Li is until he can somehow get closer to the other boy, "Sure." he says, "That'd be nice."

Li hisses but Mushi speaks over him, "Great~!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story is kinda slow right now . . . .


	3. III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a while, but Christmas and then New Years . . . I had to recuperate! This is pretty much a filler chapter, I felt I had to put something out there so people had something to read, I hope it's okay all things considering.

**Glass Half Empty**

**III**

Mushi starts to stare at both him and Li with such an intensity that it almost unnerves Jet, the tanned Alpha already used to seeing the old man as nothing but all smiles, a smile that returns when the man seems to light up like a lantern, smiling bright as he hugs the vase closer to his body and says with a too chipper tone that belays the hidden mischief.

“Jet, why don’t you take Li and look around the city for a bit~?”

Jet blinks.

And Li damn near has an aneurysm.

“It’s been a while since he’s done anything fun, I think it’d be nice if he were to hang out with someone his own age~.”

Li is gawking, but his jaw snaps shut soon enough and he starts bristling, readying himself for what looks to be a tantrum that would, without a doubt, end the world . . . but Jet is already thinking, his mind already coming up with multiple possibilities, and they all point to the same thing. This is a chance for him to learn more about Li, to at least crack open his shell just a tiny fraction. So Jet smiles one of his best disarming smiles and says with complete confidence:

“Sure thing.”

Li whirls on his heels to glare Jet down.

Mushi smiles even brighter, “Great~!” the old man starts to turn away from them, “Make sure to bring him back before dinner~! There’s a curfew if I remember correctly!”

Jet watches the old man disappear into the crowds before turning to his bristling companion, the look on Li’s face almost makes the Alpha want to take a step back, instead Jet offers another disarming smile that only seems to grate on Li’s nerves even more, but he continues, not to be deterred by Li’s scornful glower. Slipping an arm behind Li’s back without touching, corralling him, and using his other arm to gesture the opposite direction of where the teenager’s uncle had just disappeared in.

“Seems we’ve got all day to look around.”

Li continues to scowl at him, standing rigid in the middle of the street, the air surrounding him turning vile with murderous intent, his face twisted to match the scarred half, hateful and ugly, the people choosing to move **around** the mock statue. Again, Jet has to remind himself that Li is an Omega, and it just blows all previous thoughts of what Omegas were out of the water because Li is an angry and scornful Omega, snarling at the world that did him injustice . . . Li was probably from a well off noble family with the way he holds himself, but had a run in with the Fire Nation. And it’s just depressing thinking about how much they’ve lost, about how different they would have been if they hadn’t been touched by the war.

Shaking himself out of it, Jet rolls his eyes at the huffy teen and lets his arms fall to his side, his hands resting easily on his hips as he starts to stroll away, “You’ve got a choice, Li!” he calls back to the Omega, and it’s only when he hears an annoyed huff behind him does he realize that Li had decided to follow and that adds another question to his growing list surrounding Li, what made him so adept at sneaking around, but Jet slows his pace and allows Li to walk beside him, “So,” Jet toys with the stem in his mouth, “Any ideas?”

“You mean you don’t?” Li spits bitterly, Jet glances at him, Li looks away petulantly, “No.”

Jet regards Li for a moment before he lifts his nose to the air and attempts to locate a certain smell.

Li snaps, “What are you doing?”

Jet turns to look at Li once more, “Trying to find the food stalls?”

Li’s nose seems to wrinkle as he hisses, “By sniffing the air like some animal?”

“Well,” Jet’s suspicions about Li being from a noble family seem to be right on the money if he’s upset about proper etiquette, “That’s how we did it back in the forest.”

Li’s mouth opens but immediately snaps shut, his entire body turning tense and his eyes pinned to Jet’s left, Jet then feels someone at his side, turning to look at the perpetrator, he’s greeted with the sight of a tall woman with an overly pronounced hourglass figure, dressed in black silk and classy jewelry, her lips and lids painted blood red, her hair a silky black and styled in a sophisticated up-do, she scans them over with unsettling hazel eyes . . . the woman **reeks** of pheromones and sex, enough so that it begins to bleed into the air and cling to his very person.

“Can we help you?” Jet finally asks.

“You can.” the woman speaks, she sounds like those nobles still being spoon fed from a silver spoon and it grates on Jet’s nerves, “I am the Mistress of the brothel, the only brothel you’ll find in Ba-Sing-Se. I hear that a young man matching your description saved one of my kits.”

Behind him, Jet can hear Li murmur a confused, “Kits?”

“I would like to offer you a job.”

Jet offers his best charismatic grin, lacing the edges with the slightest bit of poison, placing himself between the woman and Li, “Sorry, I’m not looking to whore myself out. But I am flattered that you think I have the looks to do so.”

The woman rolls her eyes at Jet’s entire being, “I meant as the muscle. As you are no doubt aware, the job my kits do is quite dangerous, especially when there happens to be a jilted patron. I don’t like it when my kits are roughed up and I very much dislike the trouble of tracking unruly patrons down to teach them a manner or two.”

Jet tilts his head, “What would I have to do?”

“Stand guard. Patrol. Listen and look out for trouble, deal with it.”

“I’m a refugee.” Jet drawls, fishing for more.

The woman sighs, “You **will** be paid, and by working for me, I can offer services in the way of protection and such if need be.”

“And the trouble, I can deal with it any way I like?”

“As you see fit.”

Jet grins, “All right. I’m in.”

“Good.” the woman gives Jet a firm handshake, “You start this evening, don’t be late.”

Both Jet and Li watch the woman walk away with a sway to her hips, easily disappearing just as easily as she’d appeared.

“You’re really going to work for her?”

“Sure,” Jet turns to face Li, “Why not?”

“She . . . smells.” Li mutters, Jet arches a brow, Li groans, “She smells like Omegas, multiple Omegas, all in heat and Alphas . . . Alphas.” Jet doesn’t understand what Li is trying to get at and Li knows this for he regains his composure and snaps at him, “How are you even going to find this place?”

“With this.” Jet holds up a paper the woman had placed within his hand during their handshake.

**G-H-E**

They eventually find the food stalls and food peddlers when they come across a large crowd surrounding **something** , curious, Jet makes his way through the crowd with Li hissing at him to leave things alone. As they’re making their way through the people, they pick up on people making cooing sounds and wistful sighs . . . it puts Li on edge, but when is he **never** on edge. They finally break through the throng of people and are immediately greeted by the sounds of someone singing: it’s a man singing to a woman, the man is smiling as he twirls the woman around, the woman smiling wide as she too joins in on their own special love song.

It was a little disappointing to see that it was nothing worthwhile.

“Okay Li,” Jet sighs, he turns to his companion, “Let’s go.”

Jet pauses when he sees the way Li is scowling at the woman, his eyes glazed over and his arms lightly wrapped around himself.

“The woman’s an Omega.” Li murmurs as if in a trance.

Jet’s brows furrow, “Yeah, and?”

Li looks up at him, Jet witnessing the light return to his eyes as Li gets a hold of himself and shakes his head, “Never mind.” he turns and starts shoving his way past the people crowding the scene, “Let’s get something to eat.”

And Jet follows in silence, eyes glued to the back of Li’s head . . . something happened, something that must have deterred him from embracing his rank, something that left him bitter . . . a hand falls on his shoulder, the startled teen grabs the wrist and twists the arm behind the person’s back.

“What are you doing!?” a familiar voice snaps, “Let go!”

Jet immediately releases Smellerbee’s wrist, “Smellerbee? Longshot?” he’s legitimately baffled by their presence, “What are you guys doing here?”

Smellerbee is rubbing her wrist, glaring at Jet as she says, “What do you **mean** what are we doing here!? I was calling your name for the longest time!”

“I was . . . just thinking.” Jet looks around and doesn’t see Li anywhere, “Did you guys see Li?”

“Li?” Smellerbee questions before huffing under her breath, “Spirits, Jet. Is that why you’re messing around instead of looking for a job?”

“Hey.” Jet grins at his friends, “I **have** a job, I start tonight.”

“Tonight?” Smellerbee frowns.

Longshot stares at Jet.

Jet turns his head away, twirling the wheat stalk in his fingers, “I’m working as hired muscle at a brothel.”

Smellerbee flounders, “Jet! That’s not . . . that isn’t a job that will . . . !”

“Hey!” Jet interrupts, “I got a job, right?”

“Still . . . ,”

“There he is.” Jet interrupts once more, he starts walking towards Li, the other watching a vendor cook some kind of meat, Smellerbee grumbles underneath her breath while Longshot gives her an even stare, she huffs once more. “By the way,” Jet throws over his shoulder, “We’re eating at Li’s place tonight.”

Smellerbee’s shoulders fall, her eyes wide, she turns to Longshot with a harsh gesture at Jet’s back, silently asking if Longshot was even **hearing** Jet at this point, Longshot blinks and Smellerbee groans . . . Jet saddles up beside Li:

“Are you going to get some?”

“I don’t know.”

The day passes relatively easily and before they know it, dinner is fast approaching and they’re all piling into Li and Mushi’s little apartment, Li sitting grumpily across from Jet with his arms crossed over his chest and hunched over whilst Mushi places bowls of food before the four teenagers.

“During my walk, I spotted a cozy little shop run by a mated pair, they sold homemade quilts, cushions, and futons.” he sits beside Li, still smiling as he starts to pour himself a steaming cup of tea, “And I couldn’t help myself from buying the most adorable quilt I’d ever seen~.” the old man then pulls out a padded quilt with little turtle-ducks printed across it and hands it to Li who promptly chokes on his food, Smellerbee snickers under her breath, Longshot smiles, and Jet does his best not to make noise of any kind, “For you, nephew~!”

Li’s face is red, voice indignant, “What am I going to do with it!?”

“Put it in a corner.” Mushi smiles, Jet glances at Li from over the rim of his cup, Li is now looking at the blanket differently, “It’s always nice to have a spare just in case of emergencies.”

“It’ll just make a mess of the room.” Li frowns, “I don’t like making a mess of my room.”

The conversation had taken a turn, one none of the remaining Freedom Fighters had expected, because why buy a quilt just to put it up in a corner to gather dust . . . until Jet reads between the lines and realizes that Mushi had bought the quilt for Li as nesting material, and that Li apparently hated making nests, or just nesting in general. In fact, it brought Jet back to his earlier suspicions, Li seemed to hate everything about being an Omega and that was almost sad in a way.

So Jet changes the subject:

“Where are you guys working at?”

After dinner was done and Jet parting ways with his friends to head for his new job, he starts to wonder if it could really be considered a nest if there was only one blanket and the terrible futon Li must have been given. The thoughts entertain him until he comes across a fairly decent looking place, for the lower ring anyway, Jet double checks the letter given to him then approaches the door and enters, only to be greeted by musty scents and lusty pheromones, musky and sweet, with smoke lingering in the air and the sharp sting of alcohol. The scents attack Jet’s sensitive nose and make him choke on air as he recoils, hand reaching up to cover both his nose and mouth.

Laughter catches his attention, he finds the Omega he’d saved earlier.

“You get used to it.”

“I hope so.”

“Follow me.”

Jet follows the Omega through the den of sin and is led upstairs where he sits upon a fancy couch, despite the building’s dull exterior, the inside was rich and pampered, veils hanging from the ceiling, the wood polished, the furniture extravagant, the workers dressed in silks, velvets, and jewels, looking to tantalize patrons . . . just like the Omegas in the scrolls, but Jet can’t find it in himself to be interested in much when the smells still assault his nose, he wonders if the people here have a terrible sense of smell, or just don’t give a damn.

“Can you smell it?”

Jet looks up in time to see the Mistress sashay her way to the couch opposite of him, the Alpha watches the woman begin to ppour a drink of amber colored liquid, he can’t smell much of anything at this point, his sense of smell dulled.

“Smell what exactly?”

“The heat.”

Jet watches the woman knock back the glass, “One of your workers is in heat?”

The woman hums, “It’s consensual, don’t worry.”

Jet frowns, “At this point, I’m afraid I can’t smell much of anything.”

“Sensitive nose, huh?” she pours another, “You’ll get used to it, some of my kits were the same.” she swirls the liquid in her glass, “Eventually your nose will learn to sort through and ignore certain smells.” she meets his gaze, “Unless you’re actively looking for more.”

“I hope you’re right.” Jet mutters, “Smoke makes me sick.”

“It makes **all** of us sick.” the Mistress states, “Come.” she gets to her feet, “I’ll show you around.”

Jet is led back downstairs where he spots several scenes of debauchery going on, the tan Alpha finds his eyes immediately falling upon those with pale skin and dark hair, and he happens to be watching one of these pale skinned and dark haired tempters when he bumps into someone. Jet recoils but arms are already wrapping around him and there is suddenly a face so close to his, the person looks dazed, their eyes glassy and cheeks flushed, the woman could be mistaken for being drunk if it weren’t for the subtle hint of lust within her body language . . . then the smell hits him.

The woman is an Omega and she’s in heat.

She moans, “Alpha~.”

Jet’s entire body turns rigid as he feels her begin to press her body against his, her leg slipping between his and rubbing at his lower regions, she starts panting and whimpering, her hands wandering his back and arms, she gives one of his arms a squeeze and moans at the tense muscle . . . so many things were running through Jet’s mind, the first and foremost being why he wasn’t as turned on as others may have been. Perhaps it was because he simply wasn’t interested in the woman, she was beautiful, but she just didn’t quite fit the bill, or maybe because her scent was soured with smoke and the heady scent of horny Alphas, male and female. Jet was a possessive and vengeful bastard when he wanted to be, and the suggestion that the woman had been with multiple lovers turned him off.

_The smells were making him dizzy._

If he wanted a one-night only, he made sure he knew little to nothing about them, he also made sure that they didn’t reek of others, it was easier to think that they came from nowhere and disappeared into thin air with no ties once so ever.

Getting a hold of himself, he manages to gently extricate himself from the woman’s hold and hand her off to one of the nearby workers before he follows the path the Mistress had gone. As he turns the corner, he comes to an immediate stop when he spots the woman watching him with a calculating gaze, he feels himself tense up.

“What?”

Her eyes flit from his eyes to his lower region, “I don’t smell anything from you.”

Jet arches a brow, “And?”

“Most of my new help would have jumped at the chance.”

Jet realizes what she’s getting at and rolls his eyes, “The smoke is off putting. Plus I’m a possessive person.”

“Ah.” the Mistress hums, she turns on her heel, “So you’re a romantic.”

Jet frowns, “No. I said I was possessive, I said nothing about romance.”

“You don’t need to. You want a partner who is devoted to you and only you.”

“I’m also narcissistic.”

The Mistress laughs at this.

It’s late into the night when Jet finishes his first day, night, on the job, he reeks of sex and pheromones just like the Mistress had been when she’d approached Jet. It was disconcerting and dizzying. And he was so tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shaky writing is shaky!


	4. IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing to say.

**Glass Half Empty**

**IV**

Jet was pretty sure that surviving on only three hours of sleep a day wasn't something to be proud of, but he felt he was doing great for someone who stayed up twenty-one hours out of the twenty-four, plus he was someone who always had to be doing something, whether it be scheming or taking a walk, he had to keep himself occupied, more so now than ever as his mind would slip back into those last few days in the forest and try to convince himself that what he had only been doing was what needed to be done . . . right now his favorite pastime was bothering Li at his own place of work, a teashop of all things, and how Jet had laughed the second he found Li dressed in an apron serving tea of all things, especially since the antisocial teen claimed that he absolutely  **hated** the drink and people with a passion.

In the end, Li hadn't been as amused as Jet.

And Jet had the bruise to prove it.

That had been a week ago.

Li sure packed a punch.

"Should you really be wasting your money on tea?" Jet watches Li set down a dinky little cup of said steaming drink on his table, the apron wearing boy adding as an afterthought, "And don't you have anything better to do than bother me?"

Jet takes the cup and grins up at Li, the fact that Li wasn't as hissy as he'd been with him the first few days Jet visited the shop didn't go unnoticed by Jet, "Not a thing." he takes a sip of the scalding drink, the warmth relaxing his body, "And it isn't the tea I'm paying for, I happen to like the service."

Li rolls his eyes like he doesn't believe Jet, "Right."

And it's a shame because Jet  **rarely** legitimately liked anyone.

"I wouldn't mind working here for free if I got to annoy you."

"I'm pretty sure that's illegal."

"Says who?"

"Me."

"The working for free bit, or annoying you?" Li snorts and Jet really does relish in the fact that Li is still sticking around him despite there being other customers, "Come on, Li." Jet simpers, "You can't honestly say that you wouldn't miss me if I stopped paying you these lovely little visits of mine."

Li meets his gaze and says in the most deadened voice Jet's ever heard, "I wouldn't."

Jet knows that's a lie since he'd stopped visiting once and Li had asked in his own special round-about way of  _what the hell happened to you? Why weren't you here?_

But Jet still plays along, "Ouch."

Zuko rolls his eyes at the Earth Kingdom teen's antics and starts handing out the rest of the teas to the rest of the patrons, after handing everything out, he scans the room once more to see if anyone needs him before turning to head into the back of the shop where his uncle is, but not before catching a quick glance of a cheeky grin and wink from Jet . . . in the back, Zuko starts to untie his apron when Pao speaks, the Alpha apparently having been attempting to weasel his uncle's secrets to tea making, Zuko seriously doubted that the so called secret ingredient was  _love._

"If you weren't a Beta, I would almost think that Alpha boy was trying to court you."

And Zuko frowns, just because people think he's a Beta means that an Alpha wouldn't be interested?

But it also holds another meaning that Zuko can't quite form in that moment, his annoyance at the greedy man's obliviousness chafes at him and muddles his mind with familiar anger, it also whispers to him, teasing his insecurities and the thoughts he's kept locked up to come out and play.

_Alphas are meant to be strong, and you would make a terrible Alpha._

_I'm sure you'd make an acceptable trophy Omega despite your obvious flaws._

"I'm taking my break."

Jet looks up once more when he sees someone emerge from the back and smirks the instant he spots Li, only for his smirk to fall once he notices that the constant scowl Li sports is different, harsher, meaner. The male watches the pale-skinned adolescent storm out of the shop, leaving murmurs in his wake as soon as he slams the door shut behind him with a deafening bang. Frowning, Jet rises to his feet, forgetting about the tea he'd been nursing and takes off after Li. Outside, he spots Li a good distance away and hurries to catch up with the huffy male.

"You forgot me." Jet says in way of a greeting, "I thought we were friends." Li stutters a moment, but continues his warpath, Jet sighs quietly and then deigns to ask, "What happened?"

"Nothing."

"It isn't just  _nothing_ if you're this mad."

Li spits, loud and brazen, "I'm  **always** mad!"

A few people look their way and Jet sees the people shake their heads and hears them mutter  _Alphas_ underneath their breath, like it was to be expected of an Alpha to be so angry, but if their noses were any sharper, they would realize that it was Jet's  **own** Alpha scent they smelled rather than Li's, they would realize that Li didn't exactly have a scent of his own.

Jet decides to let the subject drop, no point in pushing Li to talk, "Where do you want to eat?"

Li is now glowering at the ground, "I don't care."

Feeling Jet's eyes on him finally leave, he sees Jet's legs start to walk away and so he follows silently, stewing in his own rage, but as he walks, he starts to feel a small pang of an oncoming headache wash over him, as well as the tiniest stab of guilt beginning to bloom, but mostly the headache . . . people weren't his strong suit nor was he theirs, and that was just fine by him because if it wasn't the hideous scar that put them off, then it was his ill-tempered tongue that chased them off . . . but Jet is still here and still trying, and that upsets him because  **why** is Jet still here and why is he still trying to befriend him? Was there something he wanted?

"Why?" Zuko finally asks, Jet looks over his shoulder but keeps walking, "Why are you still here?"

And Jet just laughs that easy-going laugh of his, turning back around, "Come on, Li." he says, voice full of mirth, "I know you're not much of a people-person, but you can't be  **that** bad at listening too. The Fire Nation destroyed anywhere else I could have gone, and Ba-Sing-Se is a place for change."

"No." he spits, his agitation beginning to mount, "Why are you still bothering me?"

This catches Jet's attention, the other male falters before he spins around to face him, his brows knit in concentration as his dark eyes dart all around his face,  **looking for something** , and it bothers Zuko enough for him to stop with Jet following suit. Lately it seemed like people were looking for something in him that he wasn't sure he could give or even had in the first place. But whatever it is Jet had been looking for must have been found for he offers this pitiful looking smile, that looks more like a grimace, directed solely at him.

That particular smile eats away at his pride and burns his blood.

"Because we all need someone, Li."

"I have my uncle, and that's more than enough for me."

"If only that were true." Jet seems to hint at something deeper, "We need more than one person, Li."

And how Zuko hates that false name because he  **isn't** Li, he isn't some hapless refugee without a thing to his name, he isn't whatever Jet, or anyone else for that matter, sees in him and he doesn't want to be, his name is Zuko, crown prince of the wealthiest nation and with the ability to control fire, he'd destroyed his fair share of towns and probably uprooted a few people, he was . . . well he wasn't an Alpha, but he was no  _tramp_ either!

And what was this about needing more than one person?

What? Like a pack? Like Jet's little  _Freedom Fighters?_

How ridiculous!

Derision sits on his tongue, ready to coat whatever word that comes from his mouth, but he can't bring himself to because . . . he doesn't know why and it upsets him, he would have snapped at whatever fool had dare talk to him, but Jet had . . . become something.

"Come on." Jet gently nudges his shoulder with his own, "Lunch is on me."

Zuko is confused and doesn't like the familiarity, but he follows at Jet's side, "It always is."

Jet grins, lopsided and confident, and perhaps the tiniest bit fond, "I like treating my friends."

_That word again._

They find a noodle place that looks vaguely familiar, Jet tells him to find them a table, which he does by the windows where the sun filters through, he watches the people pass on the streets just beyond the window, minding their own business and enjoying themselves. It's almost amazing, watching the poor citizens making the most of what they have, getting the tiniest of glimpses into their lives. A clink on the tabletop and a presence at his side brings him back from his people-watching to see Jet grinning down at him, Zuko looks at the bowl that had been placed before him and sees that it suits his tastes oddly enough . . . he watches Jet take his seat across from him with his own bowl.

And he starts to feel something again.

Something foreign.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Jet watches Li break apart the chopsticks, annoyed when the upper part sticks to the other but ultimately lets it go and starts eating . . . Li is much like a skittish animal, Jet had learned early on. So he had taken the necessary steps to getting this close: the first step was observing Li and learning to differentiate his usual moody behavior from true anger, the second had been introducing himself into Li's day and letting Li get used to having him around, the third had been treating Li to free meals and sweets, the first time he'd tried this, Li had straight up refused, the second time he'd been hesitant, the third time he'd accepted but stared at the food as if he were looking for anything  **off** about it, the fourth time Li had ate tentatively, the fifth time Li had ate without hesitation, the fourth step would be getting Li to see him as a person he could trust, and finally the fifth step was earning  **Li's** trust . . . he may have jumped the gun on several of them and earned a few jabs, physical and verbal.

Li starts licking his lips of the juices; Jet places his own pair of chopsticks down, "Desert?"

"No thanks." Li eyes him a moment before scoffing, "Are you sure you aren't just  **stealing** the money?"

"They pay good." Jet grins, thirty gold pieces a week . . . gold that goes to the rent which is pretty damn expensive, no wonder there were so many refugees still on the streets, the food, and Li. "And I'm pretty good at what I do ~ the other night I had to break up a fight between two Alphas, some muscled guy and some scrawny noble kid from the upper ring."

Li rolls his eyes, doing that a lot when with Jet, "That  **kid** was probably older than you."

Jet only shrugs, "Probably." he takes a moment to slurp down some noodles from his half empty bowl, he smirks mischievously at Li, "But I was the better looking one."

"I'm sure." Li stands, "I've got to get going."

"Want me to walk you back?"

"Do whatever you want."

"Well then," Jet gives Li a wave, "I'll see you tomorrow~!"

Jet does his best to keep on a straight face when he sees the seconds worth shock bright in Li's eyes before they cloud over with his usual expression of annoyance and general moodiness, he hears Li grunt as he goes his own way. Jet turns back to his bowl. While Zuko walks back, he finally realizes what it is that stayed his tongue and that foreign feeling earlier, he internally curses himself for becoming so accustomed to Jet's presence . . . Jet was someone he couldn't trust, not only did Jet hate everything and everyone to do with the Fire Nation which he just so happened to be crown prince of, but he always deflected and redirected, much like Azula when she didn't want to answer a question. There was so much Jet was hiding and it was upsetting in a way that set Zuko on edge.

Emotions were terrible.

"Nephew~!" Iroh greets cheerily the second he steps foot in the teashop, "How was your break~?"

Zuko slides the door shut with an audible thud, "Fine."

Iroh watches the young prince with shoulders set storm into the back of the teahouse, he follows after his nephew, wiping his hands down on his apron only to pause when he smells the faintest scent of someone familiar. It's as Zuko is grabbing his apron and yanking on the strings does he finally place a name to that smell:

"How is Jet?"

"Okay."

"That's good~." Iroh smiles, "He seems to have taken quite a liking to you."

Zuko's entire body turns rigid, he's silent for a moment before he hisses, "He's stupid."

"Oh?" Iroh watches his nephew stomp around the small room, "Why is that, nephew?"

Zuko whirls on his heel to glare at his uncle, lips pulled back, snarling as he says, "He wants something. I know he does, I just . . . I just haven't figured out what it is yet."

Iroh feels his shoulders sink, his nephew was such a suspicious young man, "Maybe he wants to be your friend." he sees Zuko flinch, "Is that so hard to believe?"

"It is."

The old retired general watches his nephew leave the room and sighs, so much has happened to break his nephew's confidence in others and himself . . . shift ending, Zuko rubs the back of his neck as he leaves the building, his uncle having volunteered to lock up so that he could leave early.

"Li~!"

Zuko startles, stepping backwards to avoid the sudden blockade that was an overly pushy refugee, his back slams into the door because the door is  **right** there and stares wide-eyed at Jet, honestly, where did he come from?

Jet laughs, holding his hands up, "Sorry." he says, but Zuko doesn't think he looks too sorry, "Listen, there's this festival going on and I want you to come with me."

Zuko frowns, "Don't you have friends to go with you?"

"Yeah." Jet grins, "You."

"I'm not your friend."

Jet pouts and Zuko knows it's fake, "Come on, Li. Are you saying that you're just using me for my money?"

"Wha - no!" Zuko bristles, how dare he think or say or even allude to such things about him, "You're the one who insists on paying for everything!"

Jet smirks, but lets it go, "Smellerbee and Longshot are going too, but truthfully, I'd feel like the third wheel since they seem to be getting a little cozy now that we've finally settled in." Jet sees Zuko frown, "Come on. There'll be food and drinks~."

Zuko crosses his arms over his chest, "That's your idea of getting me to tag along."

"Hey, if I was told that there was going to be free food and drinks, I'd go."

"Now they're free?"

"It's on me."

Zuko glares at Jet before sighing because he knows Jet isn't going to let this, or him, go, "Let me ask my uncle." he thinks he hears Jet snort but chooses to ignore the other as he turns and opens the door, not particularly okay with how close Jet was standing to his back, as he takes a step into the teashop, he shuts the door on Jet, he hears the other's muffled laughter on the other side, his uncle looks up with surprise, "Jet wants me to go to some kind of festival with him."

And doesn't his uncle look a little too happy about that, "If you're looking for my permission, then you have it~." he says happily, "Go, go and have fun with Jet, and be back before curfew~."

Honestly, Zuko didn't know what he was expecting from his uncle, of course the man would let him go if it meant that he was going to be hanging out with people his own age, so in the end of it all, asking his uncle had been pointless . . . Jet watches the door slide open once more and Li steps out looking like a raincloud, Jet puts up a valiant effort of not laughing at his dour companion, instead, he nudges Li's arm and tilts his head in the direction they're going in.

"Come on, it's this way."

Jet looks over his shoulder in time to see Li look around before following after him . . . it's nice that Li is learning to trust him, although  **trust** may be too kind a word, Li  **tolerated** him at the very least.

The streets started getting louder and louder the closer they got, more paper lanterns were strung up, the smell of food and people getting stronger. People became more of an occurrence. The second they made it to the festival, they stopped for a group of children than ran in front of them, giggling without a care in the world, there were groups of people, laughing, talking. There were food vendors, game booths, and various other entertainment. It was a mess of scents that flattered one another or just didn't fit well.

"It smells."

Jet huffs, "Not as bad as the brothel."

"Speaking of which." Li starts, "Shouldn't you be there soon?"

"Nope." Jet starts walking with Li following him, "I've got two days off."

"Still." Li spits, he's starting to bristle for some reason, "Alphas smell sour and Omegas smell sickening."

That was an interesting way to put it, "Are you saying that you prefer the smell of Betas?"

"I hate betas."

Li is jostled, bumped into hard enough that he stumbles clumsily into him; Jet manages to hold Li up long enough for him to get his feet back underneath him. Li is . . . warm. The Freedom Fighter doesn't realize he's clinging on to Li's arms until a hand rips Li away from him, spinning the other around to face whoever it was. An Alpha. He's snarling at Li, face twisted in rage and demanding an apology, but everything sounds muffled, like he were under water . . . Li snarls, not backing down. In fact, he goes as far as to shove the man away, the man stumbling ungracefully, crashing into several people before falling flat on his ass.

Several gasps and rounds of laughter bring him back, Li is fully on edge and that won't do.

"Come on." Jet starts, "Let's find Smellerbee and Longshot. They should be around here somewhere." he reaches out, grabbing a hold of Li's sleeve and tugs him along, keeps him close, "You're either pretty strong for an O . . . y'know, or that guy was extremely drunk."

"I didn't push him that hard." Li ends up saying, "He was drunk."

They look around for Jet's friends but end up buying some food and finding a nice building perch to sit on and watch out for them . . . Jet is debating on whether the odd flavored spice sprinkled atop his food is ruining the food or not when Li speaks up.

"Is strength . . .  **okay** for an O . . . for an Omega?"

Jet looks over at his companion and notices that he hadn't taken a bite out of the spiced meat, he soon realizes that something is bothering Li and sets his own food down, "Are you asking me what  **I** think, or what other people think?"

Li lets out an aggravated sigh, "It's just," he starts like he hadn't heard Jet, "I was taught that Alphas were meant to be strong and Omegas were weak . . . no one takes them seriously, so would it be so bad if an Omega wanted to be on the same playing field as an Alpha?"

The Earth Kingdom boy feels like he missed something and would rather not speak without having all the information, especially when it comes to Li, but Li is looking to him for his answer, "I appreciate strength." he says as an icebreaker, "But you're talking from experience, aren't you."

Li looks away, "What if I am?"

"Can I ask what brought this on?"

"Just . . . that  **Alpha** from earlier."

Jet watches then says, "Would it be so bad to be an Omega?"

"Of course it would be!" Li snaps, turning to look at him in indignant anger, "Did you not hear what I said!?"

"Of course I did." Jet says, "But I also heard what you didn't say, so let me rephrase my question, would it be so bad to let yourself  **be** an Omega?"

"Yes."

"What if I helped?"

Li immediately tenses, "What?"

"I . . . know what it's like to hate yourself." he grimaces at his own confession, but Li's expression softens in thought, there's still a frown but it's softer, "Sometimes you just need someone there."

Li's hackles rise once more, "I don't understand."

"Here." Jet opens his arms, Li only stares at him, "I'm going to hold you, is that okay?"

Li continues staring at him like he's crazy, and maybe he is because nudging Li like this isn't the way to go about taking care of deep rooted insecurities, but he's only human and selfish, not like wide-eyed Aang and all his monk teachings. Eventually Li scoots closer, like a skittish animal skirting around a trap, and just stops all together so Jet takes the helm and maneuvers himself behind Li, the latter tensing immensely, and wraps his arms gingerly around the other teen . . . it's no joke how tense Li is.

"Relax." Jet murmurs, Li only tenses even more, Jet's surprised he hasn't hurt himself or gotten a cramp from how tight his muscles must be, "I'm not going to hurt you."

Slowly, inch by inch, Li starts to let himself relax and it's amazing how tense he really is because Jet can literally feel each muscle start to give, his shoulders seem to be the only part of him that won't relax, but the Freedom Fighter will let him have that and starts to hum a tune . . . Zuko listens to the mindless humming coming from Jet, he can  **feel** the vibrations from his chest, and against his better judgment, he allows himself to relax fully against the other teen. It feels weird, but at the same time it's galvanizing. And Zuko doesn't know what this has to do with him being an Omega, but Jet must know what he's doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still have nothing to say.


	5. V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally updated, I've also begun looking at some of my other jetko stories and fleshing out the next chapters for them.

**Glass Half Empty**

**V**

The second he steps foot within the shared apartment, he feels a heavy gaze pinned on him, looking up from the worn wooden floors and his own musings; he spots both Smellerbee and Longshot sitting at the small wooden table the trio had bought from some random store. The female Alpha has her arms crossed over her chest, the intense stare coming from her, while the male Beta tends to what appears to be a steaming cup of tea . . . Longshot had been inspired by Mushi's tea-making abilities that he himself had decided to try his hand at it, Jet ponders on the idea of having Li talk to his uncle about taking Longshot in as an apprentice, or at least sharing some of his secrets.

Letting the sour look cast upon him roll off his back, he smiles an impish grin and shuts the door behind him, making sure it is secure he starts to make his way towards the kitchen where he knows there will be a kettle of steaming tea, and indeed there is one sitting on the counter. As he starts to fish around in the cabinets for the cups he knew they'd bought the other day at the very same market, he hears and feels someone approach from behind.

The lead Alpha hums, looking the epitome of nonchalant, he finds the cups he's looking and gingerly checks the kettle's surface, "Did you know," he starts, pouring tea into the cup, "that there's a festival tonight?"

"Is that where you were?"

Smellerbee asks, but when she receives no answer from her friend and leader, she grits her teeth and clenches her fists until her knuckles turn white, as much as she would like to force the answers from Jet, she stays her tongue because no good can come from challenging Jet, because not only was he a skilled fighter but he was just as good with his words.

Topping off his cup, he takes a tentative sip, the tea is pretty decent but nowhere near as good as Mushi's, he lifts his eyes and spots Longshot watching him from the table, he lifts his cup in silent praise. Longshot seems content with this and continues sipping at his own tea. Jet's attentions return to Smellerbee and see the girl bristling; he knows he doesn't make her mood any better by widening his grin.

"Worried?"

"And if I say I am?"

"Then don't." Jet waves her off, he turns to face her and rests against the counter, "I was with Li, you know how he gets when I want to do something fun."

The muscle below her left eye twitches, her jaw clenching painfully: Jet being with Li doesn't make it any better in her mind, ever since Jet had recruited Li to help them back on the ferry, he's been obsessing over the strange boy in an almost unhealthy manner. It's unnatural and it sets her on edge because it seems his avid fixation to rid the world of one less Fire Nation soldier had switched gears and settled on Li.

But she doesn't give voice to her objections of Jet being with Li . . . and there's no longer any point in talking with Jet about this if he didn't want to elaborate, one simply couldn't get him to spill anything by brute force or any other means if he didn't want to talk, especially since he could talk circles around the person until they either forget what they came for in the first place or they lost their patience with him and became aggravated, and Smellerbee wasn't looking to be talked circles around, so instead, she lets out a sigh and rolls her eyes, as she turns away, she catches the tiniest hint of Jet's smirk from over the rim of his cup, a smirk he often wore when he got this way . . . she resists the urge to growl and tackle the other Alpha, how she could ever have had a crush on the stubborn boy was a mystery, it was a good thing she awoke to the truth of his nature.

**G-H-E**

Sitting on the ratty mattress one could call a bed, Zuko has his arms wrapped around himself, his thoughts berating and scornful, because what exactly had gotten in to his fool head that allowed him to think such contact with someone who was practically a stranger was an okay idea?

Especially with someone like Jet?

And not only was it embarrassing, allowing himself to be weak in front of someone like Jet, allowing himself to be weak  **with** someone like Jet, but he could still feel the frustrating lingering sensations of resting against a broad chest, feeling the rise and fall of another's heartbeat, another's breathing, he could still feel the warmth of strong arms holding him . . . it made him want more and knowing this was a kick in the ass, it broke the badly patched dam he'd tried so hard to keep in place to avoid any unnecessary feelings or thoughts.

_How long had it been since he'd last fully and consciously consented to letting someone hold him?_

_What was he doing here?_

_Where was his mom?_

_Was she even alive?_

_Did his father ever love him?_

_Will he ever go home?_

Endless questions.

Each bringing with them an uncomfortable amount of memories and emotions.

Never before had he felt such a cocktail of emotions, he felt vulnerable, splayed open and left bare for all to see, frustration, anger, hurt, his walls cracking piece by piece and crumbling all around him . . . he felt terrible.

**G-H-E**

Letting his legs carry him down the now familiar streets, he enters the teashop and spots not Li, but Mushi, behind the counter. The old man looking the smallest bit absent from the present. How curious. Approaching the counter, Jet watches Mushi glance up, there's a worried crease between his eyebrows, and that only means one thing: something was wrong with Li.

"Hey," Jet starts amicably, he glances around as if he were looking for someone, "Where's Li?"

"My nephew is . . . ," Mushi pauses, " . . . not feeling well."

How delightfully enigmatic . . . was Li in heat? Was he simply sick? Was he hurt?

"I hope he gets better." Jet smiles, this earns a small chuckle from Mushi, "I'll have ginseng."

"Coming right up."

Reclining at one of the tables, Jet takes fairly large sips of his drink, with a new destination in mind, he sets the cup down as soon as the drink is gone and waves goodbye to Mushi who returns it . . . out on the streets, he immediately starts heading towards Li's building, even if Li was in heat, he was sure that he would be able to weather it since he's basically been surrounded by Omegas at his workplace. Spotting the building just ahead, he steadies himself and enters the unimpressive complex. Heading upstairs, he stands outside a door that looks like any other, his ears straining to hear anything from the other side that might sound a bit suspicious, when he hears nothing, he raps the door with the back of his hand.

"Li?" he calls out, nothing, Jet rolls his eyes, "Li, I know you're in there. You can either open the door for me or I'm coming in through the window." he hears a sigh and what sounds suspiciously like a curse, the tall boy snorts in amusement. The door soon opens to reveal Li wearing his usual glower and outfit, "See?" Jet starts as Li turns his back on him and the door, Jet steps in to the room and shuts the door behind him, "Was that so hard?"

Li is standing near the table, arms crossed over his chest, "It was." Jet can feel Li's eyes on him as he crosses the room to sit on one of the futons at the table, he wonders how Mushi and Li had gotten their furniture, did it come with the place? "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I heard you weren't feeling good and I figured that I would offer my assistance."

Li frowns, arms tensing, "Assistance?"

"Yeah." Jet cocks his head, grinning up at Li, "Wouldn't be my first time playing nursemaid."

Li rolls his eyes but he takes a seat on the futon closest to him, "As you can so obviously see, I'm not sick."

"I  **can** see that." Jet smirks, "Is working at the teashop  **really** so bad that you're skipping?" Li pulls a face at that and Jet laughs, "My day was fine by the way, thanks for asking."

"I wasn't asking."

"I know. But there was this . . . ,"

Zuko immediately tunes Jet out, he was pretty sure that his expression was relaying as little interest as possible to those who looked upon him, not that Jet seemed to care since his mouth still seemed to be blathering. At least he didn't have that ridiculous grass stalk he seemed to favor chewing on so much in his mouth. Gaze moving upward from Jet's mouth, he settles on his eyes, a deep brown color, just like his hair . . . how could he have such a plain color scheme yet be so eye-catching at the same time?

Perhaps it was because of his seemingly endless charisma?

Or maybe it was that something about Jet that was making Zuko  **feel** things other than anger and frustration . . . well, he  **had** been angry and frustrated with the other when he insisted on loitering around the teashop at the beginning of their so called  _new lives,_ but it mellowed out into something akin to acceptance, and last night, their sudden  _cuddle session_ left him feeling off kilter because he wanted more, enough so that he was tempted to go to his uncle and demand a hug . . . his pride is what kept him from doing such a thing.

"Hey." Zuko snaps to at the sound of Jet's voice, said teen is eyeing him curiously, "Care to share?"

Zuko blinks, how long had he been staring at Jet?

When did Jet stop talking?

"I just noticed," Zuko starts, and he has noticed this before, "you slouch."

Now Jet blinks but he straightens in his seat, "Yeah? What about it?"

Zuko shrugs, "You'd look a lot taller if you stood straight."

"That's true, but I figured you wouldn't want to be looked down at every time we hang out." Jet grins, Li narrows his eyes, Jet barks out a laugh and reclines on the heels of his hands, "I have bad posture, so what, it's not like it's going to kill me and besides, no one really cares about things like proper etiquette when we have the Fire Nation on our collective asses."

Li returns to staring him down, and once again Jet wonders what's going on through the other's head . . . another thing he noticed about Li was his sudden withdrawal every time Jet so much as mentioned the Fire Nation. And truthfully, Jet was a little concerned that the Fire Nation and Li being an Omega go hand in hand.

Did they do something to him?

Did he put up a fight and they burned him?

And there goes his mind, imagining countless situations which could have led to Li getting that scar and him being ashamed of his own rank . . . it wasn't good for his mental health at all:

"Let's go somewhere."

Jet feels Li's eyes on him as he stands, "Where?"

"I don't know." Jet shrugs, grinning as he turns to look at Li, "But whatever  _illness_ you had is gone and the day is pretty good for some quality time between friends."

"We're not friends."

Jet ignores this, "I was thinking about getting something to eat." he starts walking towards the door, behind him, he hears Li sigh followed by the padding of footsteps, he smiles a crooked smile, "I hope you have a sweet tooth, I'm in the mood for something sweet."

"Desserts don't make a lunch."

"Fills you up regardless."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You ever spend so much time with someone that you start developing some of their habits?


	6. VI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while and I am sorry for that, but life called . . . .

**Glass Half Empty**

**VI**

Head feeling like it were stuffed with cotton, tongue uncomfortably dry, and thoughts racing, he realizes too late what is going to happen if he doesn't find a calm place to ride out the storm of oncoming feelings. Someone brushes against his arm. Immediately remembering Li, he looks at the smaller teen from the corner of his eye . . . he couldn't just abandon Li or cut their time short after he'd brought him out, he didn't want to, even if it was stupid of him . . . he just wanted Li around, which meant the other would bear witness to an ugly relapse.

He feigns indifference, even as the tips of his fingers start to chill, "Want some noodles?"

Li looks up at him, looking him over before he shrugs, "Sure."

It isn't what Jet originally intended to eat, but he knew a great place that wasn't an open floor plan like the rest of the restaurants which meant the place he had in mind would provide him with just the tiniest bit of privacy to soothe his mind, to work the images of fire burning his world to ash away . . . Li stops and Jet isn't about to leave him behind since Li's presence was  **actually** helping soothe his frayed nerves, so he stops as well. But Li is starting to bristle like the stray cats Jet had seen wander the streets, his eyes narrowed and staring intently at something, or someone. Just as Jet turns, he spots a familiar face in the crowds, and it isn't what he needs right now, especially with Li's metaphorical hackles raised and looking like he'd either run or punch the approaching person who waves at Jet in a manner the dusky teen had seen the other use when trying to prompt men and women to give him a tumble.

"Jet~," the slim male purrs, "~fancy seeing you here."

"Siyu." Jet slaps on a carefree smile. "I could say the same of you."

"It's odd seeing a coworker or customer outside of business hours, let me tell you." Siyu finally spots Li standing stiff at Jet's side, the courtesan arches a delicate brow. "And who is this? A friend, or a  _friend,_  of yours?"

"His name's Li, and he's a friend."

"I see." Siyu sticks his hand out for Li to shake, pretty smile in place, "I'm Siyu. I'm also a friend of Jet's."

Li is now looking at Siyu's hand like it were the single most disgusting thing he's ever had the displeasure of laying his eyes upon, he even sets a foot behind the other as if he were ready to put some much needed space between them. Siyu sees this, then again, you would have to be blind to not see the look on Li's face, not when he has his thoughts written across his face, so Siyu lets his hand fall back to his side and is now eyeing Li critically, Li simply scowls:

"You're an Omega."

Siyu narrows his eyes, "And?"

Li meets his gaze, scowling as he says, "You reek."

"It's called pheromones." Siyu jeers, Jet tenses when he realizes that Siyu's scent is becoming stronger, Li notices as well considering that he recoils from the sudden intensity of Omega pheromones. "I take it you're one of those people that think Omega's should be decent and proper."

Li is covering his nose and mouth with both hands, "No, I'm not. I just hate Omegas."

Siyu blinks in surprise, then huffs, turning to Jet. "Some friend you have, that's the first I've heard of someone not liking Omegas." his expression turns sweet as he sidles up to Jet, "What about you~?"

Jet smirks down at the flirty male, "It depends."

Siyu smiles, "On~?"

Li outright snarls, loud and out of place, it scares Siyu enough that he jumps and it makes Jet tense because he'd only ever heard guttural sounds like that back in the forests during skirmishes with Fire Nation soldiers . . . but the fact that the sound came from Li, who's looking like he's going to seriously maim someone, makes Jet's heart pound and blood rush south. It was crude and was seriously sending chills down his spine.

Pulling himself together, he slips behind Li and sets his hands on his shoulder, the guy was tense, "It was nice seeing you, Siyu." he starts guiding Li away from the Omega. Once they're away from the other, Li rips himself out of Jet's hold, smacking his hands away. "Li."

"Now you reek." Li spits, caustic. "I hate it."

Jet fights against the urge to roll his eyes, "I'll wash up when I get home."

Li keeps silent and they move on, outside the restaurant, Li finally speaks, "Make it to go." Jet arches a brow in questioning, Li scowls to his right. "We're heading to your place to get that smell off."

Jet wants to reach out and touch, but he knows he'll get a bruised gut if he tries, "All right."

**G-H-E**

Opening his eyes, he stares at the ceiling of the washroom . . . true to his word, he had readied himself a steaming hot bath, the waters scalding and tinting his skin with red splotches, the pain had eaten away at the memories threatening to overcome him. Being home also helped . . . but as it was, he was getting sick of the stuffy air, so he decides to get out and get dressed, besides, he hadn't smelled like Siyu for a while now.

Stepping out of the bathing room, he sees Li sitting at the table, already digging in to his own meal, Jet huffs, so much for camaraderie. Padding across the wooden floors, he takes a seat on the futon opposite of the other teenager and starts helping himself, which is until he notices that Li has stopped eating and is now staring at him:

"Something wrong?"

Li frowns and sets his utensils down, "You said . . . we're  **friends** , right?"

"Yeah." Jet stirs his food with his chopsticks, "I'm pretty sure I've said that time and time again."

Zuko watches Jet lift the bowl and guide the noodles into his mouth . . . he feels something akin to contentment and it was suffocating him. As far as Zuko could tell, he wasn't going to be getting out of Ba-Sing-Se anytime soon as there were walls and restrictions aplenty, no one talked of the war or the Avatar, and Dai-Li constantly prowled the streets. Jet . . . wants to be his friend. Surely there was no harm in befriending the Earth Kingdom male, and if,  **if** , the time came for him to leave, he could do so with little trouble since it was doubtful that he would ever see the peasant urchin if he were to continue his original mission of hunting the Avatar, plus having a friend from here would definitely help lend credibility to his refugee cover.

He'd have to avoid the deep conversations and the prodding questions that were sure to come.

Although, deflecting and lying wasn't one of his best . . . talents.

Was he over thinking things?

Or was he not thinking things through enough?

Did it matter?

Probably.

Probably not.

He'd just have to cross that bridge when the time came.

For now, he was starting to feel that ridiculously childish urge to mark Jet as his, like he'd done when he was a kit claiming his toys as his own, not that it stopped Azula from taking his stuff, and Jet was his shiny new toy . . . until Zuko decided to discard him. Would Jet mind if Zuko scent marked him? Would his scent glands even work?

It's been so long.

Turning his forearm over, he stares at his wrist a moment or two before he starts rubbing his fingertips against the sensitive skin, it feels weird, his scent gland not used to being . . . well, used or even touched. It takes quite a while until the tiniest bit of an oil like substance sparsely coats a small portion of his wrist. Zuko pauses. And takes to staring at his wrist. Doing this meant . . . that he was comfortable with his Omega half, which was a spirits damned lie because he could already feel the bile rising within the back of his throat, the thought of weakness beginning to crush him.

"Is that you?" Jet asks out of nowhere, breaking Zuko from his self-loathing, he watches the taller teen lean forward; nose tilted the tiniest bit into the air before he sits back once more. "You smell . . . good."

Zuko feels, oddly warm at that comment, "Um . . . thanks?"

Now Jet is staring at him, he starts to shift under his heavy stare, "Are you okay?" the Earth Kingdom Alpha finally asks, "You're looking . . . paler than you usually are."

"I'm . . . ," there's nothing wrong with giving Jet the tiniest snippet, is there? " . . . no, no I'm not." Zuko returns to staring at his wrist, fully aware of Jet's entire attention being solely focused on him, "It's . . . been a while since . . . my scent glands were used."

"Everyone has scent glands y'know," says Jet, he pokes at the cut meat in his bowl, "It isn't exclusive to Omegas."

Li snorts, harsh and biting, "But how many advertise that they're Omegas?"

Jet chuckles, low and somber, "We're a fine mess, aren't we?"

Li looks at him, "What are you talking about?"

Jet contemplates the choice between explaining what he meant, or letting it all go, he just smiles, "I'm tired."

He lets it go . . . talk of the Fire Nation would only stir up the memories he'd fought back earlier and bring the tainted emotions to light, not to mention that it would make Li clam up . . . the Fire Nation have done so much.

"I'll go then."

"No."

"No?"

"Nap with me."

Li's face scrunches up at the thought, still adverse to touch as ever, "Why would I do that?"

"We're friends." Jet shrugs, he gets to his feet and stretches his arms high above his head, "It isn't unheard of for friends to take naps together."

"Only if they're close." frowns Li, "I  **barely** just acknowledged you as more than a nuisance."

This startles a laugh from Jet, "You do you then. I'm hitting the hay."

Zuko watches Jet breeze past him and enter a room that was most likely his, he notices that as the door closes, that the door is open just the tiniest bit, an invitation should he decide to join the other in his midday nap. Looking to the front door, he realizes that he's  **seriously** debating on joining the brunette. Frowning, he rises . . . and just stands there.

He wanted to.

That feeling of wanting another's touch is still there, has been there since last night, and this was his chance to . . . what?

Curl up with Jet like a pair of cats basking in the noon sun?

Shutting his eyes, he growls to himself and starts for the door, as he is about to open it, he pauses and curses, pulling away violently, he spins on his heel and makes his way towards the bedroom door. Sliding it open, he spots Jet lying on his back, arms behind his head, legs crossed at the ankles, and shirtless?

Either Jet was quick to rid himself of his shirt.

Or Zuko had been standing in the other room long enough for him to remove his top in a casual manner.

"If that's how you sleep, then I might be the slightest bit concerned for you."

Zuko startles, he watches Jet open his eyes and look at him, he feels a prick of embarrassment being the sole occupant of that dark gaze before he finally forces himself to move, he takes a cautious step towards the futon and kneels at the edge where he hesitates, still watching Jet watch him. They keep the staring match going for what seems like minutes when Jet snorts and shuts his eyes, rolling over on to his side. Free of his gaze, Zuko crawls on to the futon and settles at the space beside Jet, several inches between their bodies to prevent accidental touching.

At first, it's awkward because he feels stiff and out of place at Jet's back, then realizes that he's probably making a big deal out of nothing and deigns to make himself more comfortable by removing his outer robe and setting it aside, to show that he wasn't as uncomfortable as he felt. Just the tiniest bit freer; he rolls on to his side and shuts his eyes.

And it was sometime during their nap that they do end up curling around one another like a pair of cats indeed basking in the warm noon sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tend to reply to comments when I'm about to post, how weird is that?


	7. VII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter this time!

**Glass Half Empty**

**VII**

Walking in to Jet's room after she and Longshot had brought dinner home, Smellerbee hadn't really been expecting to find Jet as he was always off doing Spirits knows what, she also hadn't been expecting to see not only Jet, but Li as well, curled up around one another: Jet curled around Li with one arm bent and used as a pillow while the other lay limp over Li's side, and Li nestled comfortably against Jet, his head nestled underneath Jet's chin with his nose pressed against his skin, his arms sandwiched between their bodies, their legs tangled together. And if it weren't for the lack of lusty musk stinking up the place, she would have thought that Jet had finally made his move and succeeded.

As it was, it was just the pair innocently cuddling.

A large part of her was thankful that it wasn't as sinister as she'd thought as it would have only meant that Li's nails would have been dug deeper into Jet and would take a bit of prying to completely rid his hold in the end.  _A bit_ being too generous a term as Jet seemed like he would take offence to an attempt to separate him from Li.

Unsure of what to do with the development before her, she backs out of the room with a care she hadn't had when she'd initially barged in and closes the door. Returning to Longshot in the main room, she watches the silent boy look up from his work of peeling an orange, he raises a questioning brow, one that has her pursing her lips in contemplation.

"I'm . . . worried." she starts hesitantly as she sits opposite of him, "We hardly see Jet anymore. If he isn't at work, then he's with Li or out on the town. It's like . . . we're not even here." Longshot raises his other brow, she sighs. "Maybe I am just jealous." she looks at the wooden surface of their meager table. "Back in the forest, it seemed like we couldn't get away from him, but now that it's just the three of us, he's gone." an outstretched hand holding a peeled orange enters her vision, looking up, she sees Longshot giving her a barely perceptible smile, she reaches out and takes the fruit from him. "You think he  _likes_ Li?" she stares at the orange, "I think you may be a bit optimistic here. Jet has never legitimately liked anyone the way you're insinuating before." she takes a bite of the juicy orange fruit. "Not even Katara was able to completely turn him away from his plans, and we all know what happened in the end."

Longshot just stares and Smellerbee sighs, glaring at nothing in particular, she takes a rather violent chunk out of the orange . . . warmth was the first thing he consciously acknowledged. Soothing warmth surrounding him and a heavy weight keeping him anchored. The feeling of contentment filled his chest, calling him to awaken. And what a surprise it was to find that he was pressed against warm skin, warm skin that hid muscle. The only thing he could truly understand or even concentrate upon was the sudden fast pace of his heart beating against his chest, the way his entire body heated up in what he assumes is embarrassment, a prick of fear, and something so traitorously soft. And so he doesn't think as he rips himself away from Jet, his head apparently knocking against Jet's chin and making the other's teeth clack, the sudden motion startling the once slumbering Alpha awake where he spots Li slipping his robe on, at first, Jet is almost confused, almost wonders why Li is here before he remembers earlier.

Relaxing, he watches Li straighten out his outerwear before turning to look back at him, Jet blinks lazily and offers an equally lazy smile, he returns to lying back down, having gotten up when Li had knocked his chin:

"Looks like we slept longer than I thought."

Li just frowns.

"I'll see you around, yeah?"

Li's frown tightens, "Yeah."

Jet just smiles and watches Li leave the room, as soon as he's gone, he sighs and shuts his eyes, apparently they had somehow gravitated towards one another in their sleep and Li obviously hadn't taken too kindly to their sudden closeness. . . the door to his room opens, reopening his eyes, he sees Smellerbee in the doorway and smiles lopsidedly to which the girl responds with a small frown.

"How long were you and Li sleeping?"

Jet decides to humor her, "I'd say a few hours."

"A few hours?" Smellerbee narrows her eyes, "Doesn't Li have work?"

Jet stretches out and proceeds to roll his body on to his side, as he inhales, ready to deliver a smartass retort, one Smellerbee wouldn't appreciate had it actually escaped the confines of his mind if the words hadn't died the second he smelled the tiniest wisp of wood smoke, a smell that brings him back to warm summer nights spent around the campfires, laughing and sharing stories with others he'd almost considered friends. No, they had been his friends, but he'd lost sight of that near the end. Burying his nose into the spot, he's lost in memories. Memories that make him wistful and make him long for days past, and people he'd betrayed, who'd left him.

They were people, not a means to an end.

And they would have died for him.

Have died for him because they believed in him and what he stood for.

And he'd betrayed them, his hate consuming him and blinding him from reality.

"Jet?"

Eyes flying open in surprise, he feels something hot roll down his cheek, looking at Smellerbee from the corner of his eye, he sees that she's moved to the bedside, her brows creased in worry, her fingers flexing like she wants to reach out to him, but she isn't supposed to worry about him, he doesn't deserve it, not after all he's done and could have done if he hadn't met the Avatar and his friends. He's crying he realizes belatedly. And she's looking at him like she wants to help but isn't quite sure how because they're no longer as close as they had been, she's looking at him like he's a stranger, a stranger she doesn't know how to deal with, and how could she? He'd only ever self-destructed in the safety and privacy of his own tent, away from the others, he had to appear strong, to look like he knew what he was doing when he had no clue what to do except kill in the name of freedom, and had it ever been freedom he was fighting for? Or was it to rid the world of one less Fire Nation soldier?

"Jet?"

Body tensing, he grits his teeth and snarls, loud and threatening, she jumps at this, eyes widening in surprise.

"Get out."

Smellerbee immediately moves to do as asked, her movement stuttering when she realizes what he'd just done, only then does the look of worry melt and give way to annoyance. Back in to safe territory.

Once the door shuts, he wipes away the tears and rubs at the dried tear stains, he curls in on himself, wrapping himself up on the spot where Li had lain. There's something else hidden underneath the smoky front, some kind of spice that reminds him of lazy, warm spring days . . . burying his nose into the fabric once more, he inhales, holds the scent in his lungs until it dies out and repeats the process. Mind swirling with thoughts. Smellerbee wouldn't understand, she would ever only be one of his loyal followers, a once good friend he'd clung to as soon as the others left to keep himself afloat, but Li would understand, he wasn't tied to his past and hadn't seen him at his worst, hadn't seen him wearing a brazen smile in the aftermath of a bloodied battle with the older members of his group. Li was like him, so much like him that Jet didn't understand how Li couldn't see it himself. It was in the way Li was so tense like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, looking like he was hounded by the dark of his past, a past he seemed to want to keep just that, in the dark. Li would understand, and Jet wanted Li.

He wanted Li so much so.

Lying on his back, he rubs at his eyes with the heels of his hands and gets up, Li may have just left Spirits knows how long ago, but who's to say that Jet couldn't pop in for a visit and ask Li to accompany him for a night out?

Throwing his shirts back on, he pauses a moment before dropping one of his many pieces of armor, it didn't feel right, he felt soft and an easy target, but he wasn't going to be fighting for survival, he was going to be spending time with a friend. Granted, it was a friend who could most definitely kick his ass. And wasn't that an exciting little tidbit?

Opening the wooden shutters to his room, he doesn't hesitate to jump out the window and land soundlessly upon the ground below. Straightening himself, he dusts his clothes of imaginary dirt and starts making his way towards his intended destination. Ignoring the way several people glance his way or even mutter to one another, besides, they most likely thought that he was a teenager sneaking out from underneath his parents' watchful gaze. Mindless fools who thought his life was better than it really was because there was no war in Ba-Sing-Se.

The skies are starting to bleed midnight blue by the time he reaches Li's place, standing outside the nephew-uncle duo's door. Tapping his knuckles against the wood, he hears Mushi's kindly voice call out to him, telling him to wait a moment. When the door opens, Mushi is wiping his hands off on a cleaning rag and blinking as if surprised by Jet's sudden appearance, or rather, surprised  **by** his appearance.

"Li home?"

"Yes." Mushi seems to get a hold of himself and moves to the side, smiling as friendly as ever, "Come in. We just finished eating dinner actually. There's still some leftover duck and rice if you're interested."

Jet walks into the homely apartment space, behind him he hears the door shut, smiling he says, "It's fine. I was actually hoping to ask Li to join me to take in a bit of the night life."

Mushi lights up, smiling that smile of his that makes you want to tell him every dark deed you've ever done and he would still be there to stand by your side with little judgment. And Jet thinks Li is lucky to have someone like his uncle there for him, it was no wonder the grouchy teenager was intent on staying glued to his uncle's apron.

"I'm sure he'll be glad to join you. Just have to keep him out of trouble, it seems to follow him and he's never been one to  **not** go looking for it when it's presented."

Jet immediately remembers the drunk at the festival harassing Li.

"Sure thing." he says, "I won't let anything happen to him."

Mushi smiles, "I'm so glad he has a friend like you. He's in his room."

"Thanks, I'm glad to have met him actually."

The old man laughs and he's just so lively that it's a mystery on how Li could remain so moody because Mushi's joy was rather infectious, "You would be the first I've ever heard say so. People tend to . . . think my nephew's gruff nature is a tad too much."

Jet laughs, "Their loss."

"That it is~!"

Giving a knock on the wooden doorframe, Jet hears Li's noncommittal grunt and takes it as an  _okay_ to enter, so sliding the door open, he's surprised to when he sees Li sitting on the edge of his bedding, managing the very broadswords he'd had with him when they'd first met, his outer robe sitting in a heap at his side. Li looks up and halts the second he realizes that it's Jet standing there and  **not** his uncle, his surprise is wiped clean the second he gets a hold of himself and becomes defensive, he stows his blades back into their sheath.

"I knew I heard my uncle talking to someone." Li starts, he levels Jet with an annoyed glare, "But I had  **assumed** it was one of the neighbors coming to thank him for sharing the earlier kettle of tea he'd made."

"What?" Jet smiles a crooked smile. "Would you have preferred a stranger over me?"

Li snorts, his body jerking with the motion. "Yes, because a stranger wouldn't have bothered me."

"Come on, Li~." purrs Jet, he takes a step forward but Li immediately rises to his feet, his entire countenance advertising that he was not only tense, but becoming aggressive. "We're friends, you should be happy to see me. Besides, I came to ask for a bit of your time."

"We nearly spent the entire day together." Li hisses, "Isn't that enough?"

Jet relaxes his body, tries to be as non-aggressive as he could be, and right now, he looks as harmless as a kitten with his missing armor, "Well I can never get enough when it's you, Li."

Li looks like he's been slapped because there's shock written across his face, "What?"

"You heard me." Jet takes a step back, correcting his earlier mistake; this seems to put Li at ease the tiniest bit. "I happen to like you which also means that I also happen to like spending time with you. Now come on, we better get going before it gets any later." he turns to the door, "Unless you want to be sneaking around the Dai-Li."

Li takes a deep breath, closing his eyes and sighs, "All right."

Smirking, Jet leaves the room and shuts the door behind him when he spots Mushi cleaning up the small apartment space, he watches the old man a moment or two: he didn't know Mushi well enough to form a solid opinion on him, but he was the tiniest bit interested in knowing what kind of man Mushi had been before coming to Ba-Sing-Se, he hadn't forgotten what the old man had said back on the ferry about being a different man and the repentant tone which he'd used to say it. Mushi stops in his cleaning to wipe at his brow and bend his back as if it were bothering him, whatever he must have done is in the past as age seems to have caught up.

"Jet," the old man spots Jet soon enough and smiles, "Did my nephew agree to go with you?"

Jet grins, "Yup. Just getting ready."

Mushi blinks, "What was he doing?"

Jet thinks of the scabbard and Li's discarded robe as well as how tense Li had gotten the second Jet took a step closer, by the looks of it, Li had simply been at ease until Jet entered the room. But something didn't sit right with him, such as the sudden aggression.

"Just polishing his blades."

Mushi looks away, seems to think on this before his smile returns, "I see."

Just then, Li leaves the sanctity of his dark room and nearly runs smack dab into Jet who is still standing in front of his door. Li makes a small hissing noise of annoyance and shoves Jet forward, the latter laughing as he stumbles a few steps forward. Mushi is smiling at them, eyes twinkling in amusement.

"Well, I hope you two won't get in to too much trouble." he watches the two teenagers walk towards the door, "And try to have a good time, nephew, it won't hurt to let yourself go and it most certainly wouldn't hurt you to smile~!"

Iroh hears his relative's cursory retort and laughs, once the two are out of sight, the old retired war general looks to his nephew's room and wonders just what it was Zuko had been doing.

**G-H-E**

Approaching the outskirts of the festival grounds, a weight on his shoulder makes him jump whilst the heat of another living person at his side makes him tense:

"Try not to bring attention to yourself."

"It wasn't like I  **asked**  to be assaulted by a drunk."

Jet throws his head back and laughs; he pats Zuko's shoulder in an overly friendly manner then moves on ahead, while Zuko finds that the shoulder Jet had touched starts to suddenly feel cold. Growling to himself, he follows after Jet into the crowd of festival goers. Up ahead, Zuko can see that Jet has slowed and seems to be waiting for him to walk at his side . . . this annoys Zuko.

"What do you think is going on over there?"

Looking in the direction Jet had gestured towards, the wayward prince spots a large crowd of people hollering and waving what looks to be pouches of differing sizes in the air. If he were being honest, he wasn't interested in investigating whatever it is that seems to have wholly captured the attention of the simple-minded, but of course he's saddled himself with someone who just  **loves** to be a terrible busybody because Jet turns to look at him with this glint in his eyes that speaks of something potentially interesting on the horizon.

"Come on, Li." the Earth Kingdom male knocks his shoulder against Zuko's own, "Let's go see what it is~."

But Zuko will have none of this, doesn't want any of this, so he crosses his arms over his chest and glares at Jet, daring the taller teenager to touch him again or even attempt to move him, "I don't want to."

"Fine. I'll just go see what it is myself." Jet huffs, then grins at Zuko, "Try not to get lost without me, who knows what kind of person could pick you up. This city happens to house a bunch of creeps."

"And you're one of them."

Jet laughs at him, making Zuko grit his teeth and resist the urge to flip Jet off, because not only is it un-prince like, but it's also childish, and Jet would probably just laugh at him again . . . his uncle hadn't been too happy with the men back on the ship when he'd learnt that Zuko was starting to pick up on some of the sailors' rude language and gestures.

Approaching the group of people catcalling and whistling, Jet starts to realize that these people are currently high off of pheromones and that the air is humid and thick with hormones, just as he stops and makes to turn and walk back to Li, he hears his name called out. Closing his eyes, he curses under his breath seconds before he's flanked by two people.

Siyu and Yunxu.

Yunxu looks legitimately happy to see him; then again it was no secret at the brothel that the guy was sweet on Jet after he'd been saved by him. "How are you~?"

Jet offers one of his best smiles and subtly attempts to free his arms, "What are you two doing here?"

Yunxu smiles sweetly up at Jet, "The Mistress decided to take us all out to the festival."

Jet feels his spine stiffen, "The . . . rest of you are here?"

"Yup~." Siyu purrs, "Off the clock. But who's to say we can't bring someone home~?"

Yunxu starts to tug on Jet's arm, wanting to lead him into the core of the crowd, "Why don't you come and say hi?"

"I'll have to take a rain check." he manages to remove his arm from Siyu and starts slipping out of Yunxu's hold, "I've got to go meet up with my friend and I'd rather not keep him waiting."

Siyu immediately frowns, "Is it that  _Li_ guy you were hanging out with earlier?"

"The same."

"Well," Yunxu smiles, "He can come and say hi too."

Jet frowns, "That's not a good idea."

Yunxu's smile falls, "Why not?"

Siyu huffs, "His friend doesn't like Omegas."

"Oh."

"Right. If you'll excuse me."

Starting to become annoyed with how long it was taking Jet, when in reality it was no longer than a handful of minutes, Zuko is about to leave in search of something to drink when he spots Jet walking out of the crowd. Narrowing his eyes, he opens his mouth ready to voice his irritation when he just so happens to inhale a lungful of something sweet. Choking on the sudden smell, he barely registers Jet grabbing him by the arm and leading him away from the crowd . . . a crowd which Zuko realized had gathered for impure reasons.

They stop at a noodle stand where Jet orders for the both of them and while Zuko would find it weird that Jet knows what he likes, he isn't bothered because what's really bothering him is in the center of a large crowd filled with horny morons. Another whiff of that sickeningly sweet smell brings his attention back to Jet.

"What in Spirits' name is that smell?"

Jet pays the stall owners and lets out a long sigh, "Some of my coworkers are here."

Zuko's nose wrinkles because  _some?_

"Here."

A bowl is pushed into his hands along with a jar of spice to make his food hotter, he holds on to the items as an arm moves around him and starts guiding him towards several tables where other patrons sit, either eating, talking, or resting. Jet leads him towards a table that sits furthest from the stall and closest to the dark of the rest of the city. Staring at the food in his hands, he feels his heart start to beat faster at the mere fact that there were other Omegas around.  **Actual** Omegas.

It's stupid to fear, he realizes.

"Li." Zuko startles and stares at Jet, Jet gesturing to the spot beside him. "Sit with me."

Zuko hesitates but does as asked because he can't quite get a grip on reality at the moment, finally seated, he takes to staring at his food a moment longer then deciding that he may as well eat, then leave, barely acknowledging Jet shifting. As he starts to add the acceptable amount of spice to his food, he starts to feel just the tiniest bit crowded. Looking up from his bowl, he sees that Jet is angled towards him, like he were trying to hide him, or rather, hide the others from his sight, he catches on to the fact that not only had Jet shifted  **closer** to him, but they were sitting close enough that their hips and thighs were pressed together. Any closer, Zuko thinks, and one of them would be sitting in the other's lap.

The firebender narrows his eyes but spots something over Jet's shoulder, in the distance, the crowd seems to have thinned and Zuko can see several people dressed rather . . . showy. Several of the courtesans move their bodies so smoothly that it looks almost unnatural, but it's an act, an act that gets them several little gifts from the people in the crowd. Did the people not understand that the workers basically had them eating out of the palms of their hands, wrapped around their fingers? Or did they not care?

A hand cups the right side of his face and guides him into looking back at Jet, the touch startles him at first, but he finds that he really can't find it in himself to mind all that much. Especially when it does a spectacular job of distracting him.

"Don't worry about them."

Looking back to the crowd, Zuko pulls himself away from Jet's touch and takes to glowering at his food, he felt so small and so vulnerable, like everyone could see through him and see his failures. Hunching in on himself, he's surprised when an arm wraps around him and pulls him close . . . Jet rests his chin upon the back of Li's neck, rubbing his arm. At first, Li is tense, but seems to relax into his hold enough that he's able to eat. Pulling back, Jet keeps one arm around Li and attempts to eat his own food with one hand, until Li speaks.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"All right."

It happens to be a pleasant surprise that as soon as he removes his arm that Li seems to lean into his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel it was all over the place, if so, I apologize!


	8. VIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Zuko, my dear sweet baby Zuko . . . .

**Glass Half Empty**

**VIII**

In the small, unimpressive kitchen space, Longshot is watching his tea brew while Smellerbee sits at the table within the main room, her knives spread out all around her, the girl tending to the upkeep of the weapons out of nothing else worth doing, her mood having dropped when Jet had snarled at her all those hours ago.

At first, both assume that their leader is well asleep in his room since he hadn’t come out since Smellerbee had, but that notion is blown out of the water when the front door suddenly opens. The two Freedom Fighters immediately think that it’s a stranger breaking in, because no one ever really visits, and Li had left and would not be returning, so they ready themselves for a possible fight, until they recognize that the figure in the doorway is none other than **Jet** himself . . . seeing the way both Jet and Smellerbee’s eyes meet, Longshot knows there’s going to be a fight anyway.

“Jet?!” Smellerbee exclaims in complete shock, “But I thought . . . !?” she looks from Jet standing in the doorway to Jet’s closed bedroom door and back, “What the fuck, Jet!? How the hell did you get out!?”

And Jet has the fucking **gall** to smirk at her like he knew something she didn’t, and his tone didn’t help make matters any better, “There’s more than one way to get in and out of a building, Bee.”

A growl starts to rumble in the back of her throat, until she realizes what Jet is insinuating, “The window?”

“Congratulations.” drawls Jet, lazy smirk in place, “You learned something new.”

“Oh fuck you very much Jet.” she sees him raise an unimpressed brow at her aggression, and it just eats at her frayed nerves even more knowing that her anger to Jet was nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum, “What the hell did you even . . . ?!”

Stupid question.

Stupid fucking question.

Because right now Jet is looking like the cat that got the humming-canary which can only mean one thing, and of course Jet would sneak out to see Li, it always came back to Li with Jet. But why would he feel the need to sneak out? Did it have to do with his earlier outburst? Or those tears Smellerbee was sure she’d seen?

“You were with **Li**.” she hisses.

She really had meant to keep her aggression out of her voice, but she knows that her slip won’t be forgotten when she sees the dark cloud over Jet’s face the second he hears the way she spits out Li’s name. Apparently no one was allowed to think ill of Li around Jet, not even her, and she was with Jet far longer than Li!

“So what if I was?”

And now he’s starting to get annoyed because he’s standing taller, his shoulders beginning to square and his jaw clenching. There are so many things messed up with this that Smellerbee really can’t keep her wits about her, especially with Jet starting to stink up the place with aggressive pheromones, or rather a threat. But the fact that Jet was warning her to watch her tongue when it came to Li upsets her.

“You haven’t even known Li for long and you’re already choosing him over us!” she gestures between her and Longshot who is starting to look like he would very much like to not be here. “What has he done that’s got you hooked on him!? That makes you ignore us!? What is it you think he can give you!? Or **isn’t** giving you!?”

Jet turns **livid** , “What makes you think I **want** anything from him!?!”

“Because you don’t care about anyone unless there’s something they can give you!” Smellerbee yells, watching Jet recoil from the words. “You were the same way with everyone back in the forest until you learned that you could trust them! And even then you didn’t have **full** confidence in them! You even used the Avatar and his friend! The _Avatar_ , Jet! That could have gone so much worse for you than it did!” this doesn’t seem to bother him, her calling him out like this, and it upsets her even **more** because Jet isn’t taking anything seriously, she wants him mad, she **wants** him to fight her. “Li, does he even know what you did? Are you even going to tell him?” she sees the way Jet’s expression darkens, twisting into a scowl, baring his teeth, and fists flexing as if he were itching to wrap his fingers around something. Almost there. So she decides to take a page out of Jet’s book and go straight for the metaphorical gullet. “Are you scared he’ll leave? That he won’t like what he sees? That he won’t like the fact that you tried to kill **dozens** of innocents?”

“Shut the hell up!” Jet finally roars, his composure cracked, “You don’t know him!”

“And neither do you!”

Jet looks like he’s going to jump at her, even Longshot can see the idea tumbling around in his head, his jaw working; he looks reminiscent of the days before he tried to blow the dam, haggard and heavy with a twisted sickness. In the end though, Jet lets out a loud snarl and turns on his heel, slamming the door shut behind him and leaving them in a heavy silence. Feeling the fight leave her, she lets out a frustrated growl and presses the heels of her hands to her eyes in an attempt to keep the stinging of her eyes to a minimum.

**G-H-E**

Something brings him back to wakefulness, at first he’s confused, wondering what it was that had woken him, but he hears what he assumes is what woke him and realizes that it’s coming from the direction of his window. Frowning, he gets to his feet as quietly as he can, grabs the knife his uncle had given him so long ago, and approaches the window. Throwing it open, he grabs at the dark figure and digs his fingers into fabric, with a powerful yank; he’s pulling them ungracefully into the room and onto the floor where he places the knife up against their neck.

The person beneath him speaks, “Hi Li.”

Zuko blinks, then frowns, “Jet?” he gets to his feet, “What are you doing here?”

“I . . . ,” Jet lets out a low growl that startles Zuko, the fire prince having not heard **any** kind of aggressive sound from the other since he’s met him, “I got into a fight with Smellerbee . . . I’m not particularly looking to go back.”

“Oh.” mutters Zuko, and then realizing something. “But why are you here?”

“I need a place to stay.” Jet throws an arm over his eyes and sighs, weary, “Would you mind if I stayed for a while?”

_Jet? Stay here?_

There were so many cons against letting Jet stay with him, but looking down at Jet lying on his back, knees bent, arm hiding his eyes from view, and looking beaten and defeated had his thoughts stuttering. Surely there was no harm done in letting him stay for a few days.

“Okay.”

“Thanks.” he hears Jet sigh, “Mind helping me up?”

Reaching out, he grabs a firm hold on Jet’s hand and lifts the other to his feet, and once Jet is on his feet; Zuko realizes that Jet is actually standing straight for once seconds before he feels a hand cup his cheek, thumb brushing against his skin, the scarred side. It makes him tense, makes his heart beat faster out of irrational fear. No one’s ever touched his scar. No one wanted to. Sometimes not even **he** himself wanted to.

But Jet is saying something and Zuko tunes in right when he hears Jet say:

“I mean it.”

“I . . . ,”

Zuko’s words die immediately upon feeling Jet press his lips against his, at first, Zuko wonders why Jet is kissing him of all people, then wonders why he isn’t pulling away, only to realize in the end that he’s got his arms wrapped around Jet, his body returning the kiss. A kiss which was becoming less virtuous and more fervent with Jet leading them towards Zuko’s bedding and laying him out on his back, nipping and sucking, growling and hissing.

When Jet pulls away for air, because that’s a thing, they end up staring at one another.

Now Jet knew Li was awkward when it came to social situations, but the fact that he had literally kissed Li breathless, he had thought that Li would have at least been a little more eloquent, or attuned to the current happenings, rather than looking at him with those eyes of his and **finally** saying something, that something not being what Jet was expecting to hear.

Although since it was Li, he probably should have expected something of the sort.

“Um . . . thanks?”

Jet blinks a couple of times before snorting in amusement, resisting the strong urge to clap a hand to his forehead, he rolls off of Li to lay at his side. And Li, the romantic, seems to think that’s that since he rolls over and curls in on himself to sleep. And it’s a little odd that **Jet** is the one expecting more from the other person, but the irony is pushed to the side because he can still hear Smellerbee’s questions ringing around in his head and it was driving him crazy.

But he knew Li enough to know that the other . . . did he really know him though?

Jet could have made a mistake, it’s happened before.

“There’s . . . something I want to tell you.”

At his side he feels Li tense before grumbling, “I thought you were asleep.”

How charming.

“It’s important for you to hear if we’re going to do this.”

Li is silent a moment before he rolls on to his back, “Does it have to do with the fight with your friend?”

Jet continues staring at the dark wooden ceiling, “Kind of, but not really.”

When Li speaks, he sounds awkward, “All right.”

“Back on the ferry, when I told you and your uncle that I was coming to Ba-Sing-Se to start over . . . ,” Jet pauses, can feel the memories from his last few days in the forest begin to surface, wrapping their gnarled fingers around his throat, “ . . . the reason I’m here . . . in the forest where I lived, there was a small town nearby, Gaipan.” he shuts his eyes tight and tries to concentrate on getting air to his lungs, “I tried . . . I tried to drown the entire village and everyone in it by using a nearby dam, just to kill some of the Fire Nation people who’d lived there. I’d . . . I met the Avatar.”

Li immediately sits up at this and looks down at him, his expression suddenly twisted into something Jet couldn’t quite identify as it was muddled with several different emotions, “The Avatar?”

“Yeah. I convinced him and his waterbender friend to help me fill the dam where I had some of my Freedom Fighters help me set up some barrels of explosive jelly . . . the Avatar and his friend didn’t know what I was planning until it was too late, until I’d signaled for Longshot to shoot the barrels.” he can feel Li looking at him, but he doesn’t want to look, “The people survived, as it turned out, Sokka had escaped from Smellerbee and Pipsqueak to warn the people. I was . . . so angry with him. In the end, they left me frozen to a tree. My people found out what I had really been trying to do and left me. They didn’t trust me anymore.”

“Everyone left you?”

“No.” Jet’s heart is thudding heavy in his chest, “Some were still loyal, like Smellerbee and Longshot, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at them without feeling sick to my stomach.”

Silence.

“Oh.”

Now Jet sits up and stares at Li, “That’s it?”

Li frowns at him, “What do you want me to say? The people got out didn’t they?”

“Seriously Li.” Jet feels like he’s becoming hysterical, “That’s **all** you have to say?”

“I’ve got nothing **to** say!” Li snaps, “I . . . ,” he falls silent, looking to be in thought, “I . . . understand, in a way.” he meets Jet’s gaze with his own steady one, “You were just trying to achieve your goal.”

He flat out glares at Li now, “There were **kids** there and I tried to kill them!” Li looked uncomfortable at this, but he didn’t seem to change his mind, “You should be telling me that I’m a monster! That I was wrong!”

“I’m not saying anything.”

Jet’s heart is pounding harder, but for a completely different reason now, “Fuck you, Li.”

Zuko turns, ready to snap at Jet for that comment when he’s tackled back onto the futon, lips attached to his once more, lips that start to glide across his skin, heading straight for the crook of his neck where he feels something wet brush against the unused scent gland there over and over, Zuko realizing that it’s Jet’s tongue seconds before lips nip at the skin. It feels weird. It makes **him** feel weird, especially when Jet breathes right in his ear, hands heavy on his waist, his voice breathy as he says:

“I like you Li, I like you a lot.”

The banished prince blinks, watching as Jet pulls back to look down at him, like he were expecting him to say something in return to that proclamation, so Zuko does because he’s confused at the moment, the entire nature of the moment flying right over his head.

“Um . . . I like you too.”

Jet growls and presses a rough kiss to his lips . . . it never crossing Zuko’s mind that Jet _like-liked_ him.

“We should go to bed now.” he says, nearly breathless, “Unlike you I have work in the morning.”

“Yeah.” Jet breathes against his skin, “Okay.”

When morning comes, Zuko starts to feel like someone were looking at him, the gaze heavy enough that it has him opening his eyes. At first, he finds that he’s being held by Jet, but that he’s asleep, his gaze then slides towards the direction of the door where he sees his uncle staring wide-eyed, and frankly, shocked. Realizing what it must have looked like from his uncle’s point of view, he feels his entire face flush with embarrassment and immediately pulls away from Jet, subsequently waking the other, and storming out of the room to start his morning routine.

“Nephew,” Iroh starts as they’re on their way to work. “Is there something I need to know about you and Jet?”

Once more, Zuko feels his face heat up, “N-no!” he ducks his head when his outburst catches the attention of several people, “It wasn’t what it looked like . . . Jet just, had a fight with his friends and needed a place to stay.”

Iroh arches his brow and watches his nephew for a moment before saying, “Is that so?” when he sees his nephew bob his head in affirmation, he hums happily, “Well then, I hope they work things out. It’s always sad to lose a friend.”

**G-H-E**

Getting closer and closer to lunch, Iroh immediately spots Jet walking in to the shop with that usual swagger of his, several patrons of the shop turning to watch him with Jet returning their looks with a charming smile. Just like the first time they’d met, Iroh realizes that Jet is quite the charismatic young man.

A complete contrast to his nephew.

The two interact with each other like usual, until Iroh catches the way Jet looks at his nephew, like he were precious, and it’s only then does the old firebender realize that while his nephew may think of Jet as nothing more than an acquaintance/friend, Jet saw him in a different light, Jet **liked** his nephew as more than a friend. And while Iroh wouldn’t have minded if Jet chose to pursue his nephew romantically, he knew that it couldn’t happen because of the hatred the Earth Kingdom boy held for the Fire Nation, which is exactly what his nephew was in every way possible . . . he couldn’t allow it, it would be both unfair and painful for both of them.

“I’m taking my break.” his nephew says, throwing the apron onto one of the hooks haphazardly.

“All right~.” Iroh smiles, “Have fun~.”

Zuko just grunts.

Out on the streets and making their way towards one of the restaurants that had outdoor seating, Jet wraps his arms around Li and rests his head on top of Li’s, at first, Li tenses then seems to become flushed with embarrassment if the sudden heat coming from him was anything to go by.

“Where do you want to sit?” Jet purrs into Li’s scarred ear,

Li makes a choked noise so Jet pushes further and gives the tiniest nip, a nip that seems to have been too much for Li since he rips himself out of Jet’s hold and turns to look at him with wide, accusatory eyes, his face beet red. Jet laughs and gets a punch to the gut for his trouble, the air knocked out of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update because I finished this chapter earlier than usual!


	9. IX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am exhausted . . . but lifting weights helps ease the mind, at least for me.

**Glass Half Empty**

**IX**

An honest to Agni **gasp** forces itself past his lips and his back arches away from a pair of hands, but not just any hand, no because these hands are **cold** and was currently cooling his previously, comfortably warm skin, and frankly, what had the person been **doing** to get their hands **that** cold without being a waterbender?! Behind him, he can hear Jet start to laugh at him, or rather his reaction, but it was still him because it was **his** reaction, and seriously, Zuko should have known that it was the other because who else would do something so ridiculous, and to him of all people?!

Turning on Jet, he slaps his hands away from his general vicinity and takes to glaring at the highly amused looking man who holds his offending appendages in the air oh-so innocently, smirking like he hadn’t **just** chilled Zuko’s skin causing koala-goose flesh to prick up all over his arms and the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

“What’s the _matter_ with you!?”

The hidden firebender hisses because he’s **furious** , but Jet simply takes his brazen anger with that ridiculous smirk of his like he isn’t **afraid** of Zuko or his unadulterated anger, like he **thrives** in it and knowing him, he probably does.

Weirdo.

“You were looking a little hot there~.”

The Earth Kingdom man even waggles an eyebrow at him and the sight of it has his anger faltering because he’s never seen that before and the action looks, odd? But his anger is quick to pick back up and he returns to scowling at Jet and baring his teeth in warning, of course, Jet just laughs like Zuko’s anger amuses him . . . this both annoys him and confounds him, normally, most people would back **away** from the snarling prince when he started to get steamed, not wrap their arm around him and pull him even closer. Actually, now that he allowed himself to think on it, Jet has been acting rather odd ever since he’d appeared at Zuko’s window a few nights ago: he’s been doing things like brushing up against him, walking so close to him that they may as well be, for all intents and purposes, **glued** to each other by their shoulders, going out of his way to help people they hardly know, mostly if the task was manual labor but there were times when Jet was able to talk his way through it which only served to remind Zuko of Azula, and was it **just** Zuko, or was Jet flexing? That can’t just be him, could it?

And let’s not forget how he seems to pick up random things every now and then to present to Zuko ranging from candies to weapon caring utensils and random knick-knacks that he really has no idea what to do with . . . but when Jet had offered to use his own money to provide for both nephew and uncle, his uncle had shut the idea, an idea which seemed **useful** to their survival, down so fast that it startled Zuko, he felt he **missed** something, particularly when the ensuing staring match started between his uncle and Jet. Only for Jet to shrug and back down.

Why would his uncle refuse such an offer?

It wasn’t like it would break Jet’s coin purse, guy got paid quite a bit.

But at the same time, Zuko had been annoyed because had he **seriously** been considering taking charity?

It became even weirder when Jet’s weird behavior shifted gears and turned towards his uncle, offering him gifts and compliments and the like, like he were trying to butter his uncle up, he knows a kiss-ass when he sees one . . . but for what? What did his uncle have that Jet wanted?

Whatever, but the point still stands, Jet was acting weird.

They hadn’t _kissed_ again, and Zuko really can’t think about the act or the word because it makes him heat up and he knows with how pale he is that his embarrassment will show, while the kiss had been rather . . . _pleasant,_ he’d been caught off guard and **way** out of his depth, so now that Zuko is of clear and sound mind, he doesn’t let Jet plant one on him and Jet doesn’t push, just accepts it and takes to simply draping himself all over him, touching him.

Zuko assumes it’s because Jet is now comfortable with him enough after sharing what brought him here because he’s heard of friends who do such things, even Ty-Lee had been like that with both Azula and Mai, the innocent pecks stopping once they reached maturity, or so Zuko thinks, he doesn’t know as he’s been banished since he was thirteen and that just dampens his mood . . . but those kisses had been on the cheek.

Whatever.

Jet watches Li’s anger take its course, burning bright at first then turning into a tepid simmer only to boil into annoyance in the end and force the tense man to scowl, and it **amazes** Jet that he can get all that from simply looking at Li’s face. Seriously. The guy wore his feelings and thoughts on his face, in his eyes, and was an absolutely terrible liar . . . and this all _endeared_ him to Jet.

Now only if he could get Mushi’s approval to officially chase after his nephew.

Does he need approval and permission?

No, not really.

But this is Li and if his mother-hen of an uncle says _it’s okay_ , it’ll probably make him feel more at ease knowing that his most important person accepted their relationship, make him comfortable enough that he will allow Jet to do more _couple-y_ things and let Jet dote on him, plus Li seemed pretty traditional when it came to things such as this.

**G-H-E**

Wincing at the sharp pain digging in to her bicep, Smellerbee fixes her hold on the wooden creates in her arms and is about to continue on her way when she spots Li, and if Li was there that could only mean that Jet wasn’t too far behind. As though the mere thought of her friend conjured him, she sees Jet’s familiar form emerge from the moving crowds and drapes himself over Li who looks like he’s about to have a fit, which is pretty ordinary considering that it was them of all people, but what surprises her is seeing Jet’s head dip forward and bury his face into the crook of Li’s neck with his hands on Li’s waist and Li himself looking annoyed but not at all bothered by Jet’s intimate touching and that could only mean one of two things.

Unexpectedly, as if he could hear her thoughts, Li’s eyes seem to fall on her, they stare at one another from across the way before he whaps Jet on the head and gestures towards her, his mouth moving like he’s talking. When she sees Jet look at her, she tries not to let the hurt show when she sees that he doesn’t seem all that thrilled to see her standing there, but Li seems to snap at Jet because soon Jet is pouting in a way she knows is an act and removing his arms from around Li, which means Li was pushing for them to talk, and if it was what Li wanted, then Jet was going to do it. And while she knows you shouldn’t look a gift ostrich-horse in the mouth, it still felt like a slap.

And there he was, walking towards her with his hands resting lazily on his hips and slouched in his usual mannerisms.

“Smellerbee.” he says the second they’re five feet apart.

“Jet.” she looks past Jet and sees Li watching them, “I see you’re with Li.”

Jet shrugging brings her attention back to him, “In more ways than one.”

If Jet were insinuating what she thinks he is coupled with how Li didn’t seem all that put off by Jet’s mouth being anywhere near his scent glands then that could only mean they were now a **couple** , that Li’s claws were officially hooked into Jet’s heart, and it annoys her, it really does because she feels like this is a mistake that will hurt Jet in the long run and she doesn’t want that because he’s already been through so much, but knowing the person that Jet is, he won’t back off until it all blows up in his face, and when it does, the least she can do is be there for him before and when it does. Her and Longshot.

“Congratulations.” she sees the way Jet arches a questioning brow, looking sardonic like he doesn’t quite believe her, “I never thought Li would go out with you since he doesn’t seem the type to like anyone touching him.”

She watches Jet’s head loll, like he wishes he were anywhere but here, like he wishes she were someone else, “Yeah.” but his attention returns to her soon enough, “How are you and Longshot?”

“Good.” she pauses, “As good as can be.” she sighs, “I mean, we miss you, but that’s expected.” Jet just grunts. “Listen, Jet, I . . . I’m sorry for what I said, I was just, we hardly saw you anymore and I was afraid that you were leaving us behind, and, you’re all that we got.”

“That’s not true, you have each other.”

“But it’s not the same and you know it, you’re like our . . . ,” _brother, caretaker, Alpha._ “ . . . you’re our leader, without you we’re just . . . living.”

Neither of them says a thing after that, choosing to stand in silence for the longest minute of their lives until Jet finally sighs and reaches out, pulling her in to an awkward hug because she’s still holding those stupid crates.

“I’m . . . yeah. Okay.”

And he still can’t apologize and mean it to save his life, but she knows what he means so she lets herself melt into his warm embrace, and it’s like coming home after a long day: warm, safe, comforting. But then she smells it, Li’s scent, but there’s now something different about it, something subtle that calls to her to do something, she pulls away from Jet and looks into his eyes, for the most part he looks surprised but quickly schools it back into his usual mask. She opens and closes her mouth several times, almost half expecting Jet to say something smart, until she can form a proper sentence that won’t somehow set Jet off.

“Li is . . . Li’s an _Omega_?”

The muscles in Jet’s jaw ticks which means she’s hit the nail on the head, and while a part of her would like to blame Jet’s dogged interest in Li on this newfound fact, that isn’t the case and she knows it, Jet was never one to care for ranks so long as the person was useful to him and his plans . . . and she doesn’t want to fight with Jet anymore.

Speaking of which, looking past him, she sees Li is still standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and scowling at whoever strays too close to him, he was all harsh stares and harsher words, hard planes and sharp lines, not like **any** of the Omegas she’d seen in those scrolls the others liked to pass amongst each other or the Omegas she’d seen hang around the brothel, she returns to looking back at Jet.

“He looks and acts nothing **like** an Omega.”

Jet just gets this weird look on his face that she’s never seen him wear before as he says, “I know.”

And it hits Smellerbee with the force rivaling an earthbender shooting a rock at her chest because Jet **_likes_** Li, he actually **_likes_** Li, she would say love but she can’t quite bring herself to as _Jet_ and _love_ have absolutely no business belonging in the same sentence, at least like this, because Jet was arrogant, he won’t admit when he’s in the wrong, he won’t apologize, he won’t be shamed, he was charming, he can weave pretty lies and convince you that you’re the only one, make you **feel** like you’re the only one, like you’re important, he was manipulative, he tells you what you want to hear to tie you to him, to bind you to him until there’s need of you and when he’s done, he’ll still tell you what you want to hear even as he digs his knife in your back, he had trust issues the size of the great divide and was everything that **wasn’t** soft and squishy unless it was an act, but Li, Li who was the total opposite of Jet, with the exception of the trust issues, turned him into **this** and that was something. Something that not even Katara could do. Sure Jet could **pretend** he was in love, but this . . . ?

“I think Longshot and I would like to get to know Li better.” Jet looks at her, shocked, “I mean, it looks like he’s going to be a part of your life whether we like it or not and well . . . how about dinner?”

“Okay?” Jet seems to have lost his footing and she can’t blame him, “I’ll see you around then.”

He can try to sound confident as he says that, but she can hear the question in his voice, and really, she would be too if she were in his shoes.

“Same to you.”

Watching Jet return to him, he says, “Well?”

Zuko is surprised when Jet wraps his arms around him and presses a kiss to his hair, “Thanks.”

It should tell him how comfortable he’s getting with Jet if he doesn’t so much as flinch anymore when he’s touched, especially when he receives a dinner invitation and doesn’t think much on it when he agrees.

**G-H-E**

Humming the tune of _Four Seasons, Four Loves_ and smiling when he hears some of the customers hum along with him, the door to the teashop opens to reveal his nephew returning from his lunch break, and alone by the looks of it, Iroh wonders where Jet could have disappeared to and hopes the young Alpha isn’t getting into any kind of trouble.

“Li.” he smiles as Zuko passes by, he wipes his hands on his apron and follows after his nephew, “How was lunch?”

“Fine.” Zuko grumbles as he throws his apron on and haphazardly ties the strings.

“That’s wonderful to hear, and where is Jet~?”

“Who cares?”

“You must as he happens to be your friend.” Iroh watches Zuko tense like he’s going to tell him that Jet is **not** his friend, before going on about his business, “I hope he’s not getting himself into trouble, he seems the sort to search it out.”

“Uncle.” Zuko stresses through gritted teeth, “I don’t **care** what Jet is doing.”

Iroh smiles even though Zuko can’t see, “Even after you’ve shared a bed with him~?”

This gets the desired effect for Zuko splutters and drops a teacup back into the soapy water, water from the small sink splashing everywhere and soaking his nephew’s sleeves, there also happened to be red creeping up his nephew’s neck and to his ears. Chuckling into his sleeve, he finds that it never fails to amuse how easily embarrassed his nephew was.

“Don’t make it sound like something it isn’t!”

Now he’s taking out his annoyance out by scrubbing the poor teacups like he’s trying to break them and that just won’t do, his nephew really needed to learn to use a gentler touch. Reaching in to his robe, he pulls out a nondescript paper sack, the sound catching his nephew’s attention; he holds it out for his nephew to take.

“I managed to get my hands on some suppressants.” as soon as Zuko takes the pack and hides it, Iroh decides that now is as good a time as any to investigate the reason for his nephew’s scent becoming stronger, “It seems your heat is approaching faster than usual, perhaps it is because we are now eating three square meals a day.”

Zuko frowns, looking at him like he’s crazy, “My . . . it isn’t due for another two weeks.”

“Oh?” Iroh tilts his head, studying his nephew, “Then I wonder what it is that is making your scent stronger.”

And Zuko’s eyes widen like he can’t quite believe that, he even raises his hands like he’s about to cover the scent glands on the crook of his neck but stops because he hates touching them, and now he’s looking sick to his stomach and it makes Iroh’s heart break.

“My . . . ?” he looks distressed, even looks around before shrinking in on himself.

“Go.” Iroh guides Zuko towards the teashop’s back door, “I will tell Pao that you are not feeling well.”

Zuko nods, rips the apron off and all but sprints out of the room . . . his nephew’s heat is usually what drives his scent to become stronger and that isn’t what is happening otherwise Zuko would have locked himself up in his room, or would have stolen suppressants earlier, that or he was activating his scent glands which hasn’t happened in a long, **long** time because of his nephew’s shame in what his scent told everyone, plus his nephew hated touching those particular areas on his body which is the only way to kick start his scent glands back into working.

Sighing, he opens the door and decides to air out the area before anyone can smell the distress in the air.

The workday seems to go about as slow as it pleases, which may have to do with him being anxious to get back to his nephew and see if he was well after the earlier debacle. A pretty girl who happens to be quite a regular customer smiles and waves at him as he leaves, he returning the kind gesture, the girl happened to have her eye on his nephew and that made him smile, despite what his nephew may think of himself, he was quite the charmer . . . opening the door, he sees his nephew sitting at the window with a towel wrapped around his shoulders, his hair still damp, the areas where the scent glands were located scrubbed red, Iroh tries not to let his concern show as he softly closes the door behind him.

“Nephew,” Zuko looks up; he’s got his usual frown, “I happened to bring home some leftover tea. Want some?”

This makes Zuko’s mouth twitch downward, he turns away, “I don’t **want** tea.”

Iroh smiles gently as he approaches the table and sets the spare kettle upon the surface; at least his nephew was feeling better, if his dour demeanor was back. Going towards the cupboards, he pulls out a cup for himself.

“Are you still going to have dinner with your friends?”

He watches Zuko tense like before, most likely going to tell him that they aren’t his _friends_ and that makes Iroh smile, allowing him to continue looking for the perfect cup.

“Yeah.”

“Do tell Jet and his friends that I said hello.” he blows into the cup and returns to the table, “And that they’re always welcomed here, it would be nice to spend time with people who like a good cup of tea.”

“I’m not doing that.”

Iroh chuckles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh poor innocent Zuko . . . .


	10. X

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while and I'm sorry, I had the chapter written up but just never got to it . . . I'm lazy. But hope you enjoy!

**Glass Half Empty**

**X**

Recounting the events of her rather strenuous day to her silent companion as he helped her prepare their dinner meal, a rather important dinner meal it felt it would be, the very one where their lead Alpha would introduce them to his special someone . . . it’s as the Alpha and Beta comrades are dressing their sad little table with the foods and drinks to be consumed is when Jet reappears with Li close in tow, Longshot perks up the second he spots Jet walking in to their abode, like the silent Beta hadn’t been sure that Jet would even return despite their mentions of a dinner. And a part of Smellerbee, the part that was still suspicious of pretty much **everything** , had even thought that as well.

But seeing their tall, trouble making leader standing there made them feel complete.

“Jet, Li.” Smellerbee starts pleasantly, at least pleasant for her, “Why don’t you take a seat?”

“Thanks.” Jet smiles his crooked smirk with Li at his side, looking awkward as ever.

Taking a spot at the table alongside Longshot, she keeps an eye on both Jet and Li as they interact, when she looks to Longshot and sees him give the tiniest of nods towards the new couple. She knows what that gesture is supposed to mean, and while she would like nothing more than to let the whole situation flow on by like a corpse in a river, she knew she had to say something or it very well may come back and bite her on the ass.

“So, Li,” she continues, noticing how Li seems to tense and lean the smallest bit into Jet’s side, Jet not minding, even seeming to encourage it if him wrapping his arm around Li was anything. “you’re an Omega?”

The reaction is immediate: Li chokes on his food and Jet winces at the question, but he attempts to help Li who all but **snarls** and swipes at Jet’s hands, their sudden reaction confusing both Smellerbee and Longshot. When Li recovers and look at her through narrowed eyes, she realizes that discussing his rank may have not been the best way to go about easing in to the tentative strain between them, especially since now that she thought about it, he probably didn’t want anyone to know about his secondary gender.

“How did you find out?”

She looks between Li, who is sitting straight and refusing to touch Jet, and Jet who is watching her with cautious eyes that tell her to tread carefully, “I . . . picked up on it when I gave Jet a hug earlier.”

Li’s eyes turn from her to Jet, Jet presses against Li who tenses, “It’s okay.” he ducks his head closer to Li, making it so they’re on even level, “They won’t say anything to anyone, I promise you, they’re good at keeping secrets.”

Li continues staring at Jet, but relents, Jet gives Smellerbee a nod, a go-ahead if she’s ever known one. “Sorry, Jet is right though, we won’t tell anyone.” she sees Li eye them both critically, it annoys her that they have to work so hard to earn his trust, but if it’s for Jet she’ll sit through the skepticism, Li nods though and she begins once again. “How is Ba-Sing-Se treating you so far?”

Li’s jaw seems to work mindlessly, like he’s mulling his answer over, “Okay.”

And Jet presses his nose against Li’s neck, “I seem to remember you saying you hated it here.”

Li bristles, even shoves Jet’s face away, “I seem to remember the question being directed at **me**.”

Their tanned friend just grins like a madman and grabs Li’s wrist, keeping eye contact with the recently revealed to be Omega, and presses a kiss of all things to the hard, calloused palm, the action is oddly intimate and makes Smellerbee want to look away, but the look on Li’s face, like he can’t quite believe someone would do something so gentle and adoring like that to him of all people keeps her eyes firmly on them, the girl wondering what Li had gone through . . . then his face burns bright red and he rips his hand away from Jet, he holds his hand close to his chest, like Jet had burned him with that kiss. Smellerbee was sure if she were to check his pulse, or even press a hand to his forehead, she would feel his heart beating rabiroo fast and his skin hot as the desert.

“Um . . . so how is it working at the teashop?”

“Uh . . . fine, if you don’t mind idiots who like to stare.” he spits.

Longshot starts to mete out more food, making sure each is equal, but Jet doesn’t look too interested in eating when his focus is centered on Li who is still as tense as he’d been, if not worse, when Smellerbee had asked after him.

Unlike Jet, she didn’t have the persistence or time to crack Li’s shell open, besides, she was still wary of the guy.

Setting her chopsticks down with a fairly loud thump and clack, she levels a glare at Li who looks taken aback by her sudden aggressive motion, only to scowl, ready for a fight, she could understand how Jet found that attractive, he always did love the fighters and the survivors, those tough enough that life and unfair circumstances couldn’t beat down.

“Do you **_like_** Jet?”

Li blinks, looks from her to Jet then back, “Yes?”

She ignores that it sounds like a question; she knows that the guy is awkward and socially inept, “And he likes you, so don’t you dare hurt him. Got it, Omega or not, I will track you down and kick your ass myself.”

Li is now scowling and looking very much affronted, jaw clenched, but he nods . . . as the night progresses, Li seems to lean deeper into Jet’s side, their friend curling around him, unconsciously shielding him from the world. And only then, does it dawn on her, Longshot and herself are no longer the only ones in Jet’s little world, no longer the center, they had to make room for Li and that title was reserved for the boarcupine-esque boy.

“Wanna stay the night?” Jet murmurs, head ducked towards Li.

Jet does that a lot, Smellerbee notes.

Li seems to get a hold of himself, “My uncle . . . ,”

“Knows where you are.” Jet finishes for him, “C’mon, let’s go to bed.”

Smellerbee watches Li go through several motions before allowing Jet to help him to his feet, she forces herself to call out to the sour teen, “Li.” both he and Jet stop to look at her. “Goodnight.”

Li hesitates, “Goodnight.”

Jet grins though, and that is all the confirmation she needs of how well she handled things, “Night guys.”

Both she and Longshot nod after them, watching Jet lead Li to his room . . . stepping into the room the taller teen inhabited, Zuko sees the once bare bed is now loaded with pillows and blankets of different fabrics and sizes, it looked more like a heap of comfort than an actual bed. The banished prince watches the other slink past him, removing his shirts as he goes, feeling his face start to heat up rather uncomfortably, he looks away from the other’s expanse of muscle and skin on display, and starts to follow Jet’s lead by shedding his own outer robe. It should be a red flag that he was getting a little **_too_** used to Jet’s presence, for the second Zuko manages to get comfortable, Jet wraps his arms around his abdomen and pulls him close until their bodies are pressed neatly together, the firebender not thinking twice about the way Jet curls around him, holding him close like he were trying to protect him. While a part of him may be annoyed, the other part remembers fuzzy memories of his mother holding him close, keeping him safe and warm, and it’s those feelings that follow him into sleep, allowing him to curl up against Jet in return.

**G-H-E**

Rising with the sun is a normal occurrence, what isn’t is the feeling of having one of the best sleeps of his life since he’d left his own room back in the Fire Nation. The warmth that surrounds him tempts him to curl back up and sleep some more, maybe even waste the day away doing nothing, but the distinct smell of cedar keeps him from doing so. Opening his eyes, he sees an arm wrapped around him, holding him tight against the owner of that arm: Jet. The black haired boy reaches down and wraps his fingers around Jet’s wrist, he attempts to move the other’s arm off of him, but it’s to no avail as it only seems to make the tanned male hold on to him tighter, his nose burying within the back of Zuko’s neck.

It shouldn’t make his heart beast as fast as it does, or warm his face as much as it does.

Something warm and wet runs up his neck, it makes him tense and his heart become rapid and uncoordinated with an odd type of heat shooting through his veins and striking his core, he feels the warmth of Jet’s breath when he mumbles, his voice hazy with sleep and the right amount of quiet that makes his throat dry up, “What’re you doing?”

Swallowing the sudden lump forming in his throat, Zuko forces himself to speak, “I’ve got to go to work.”

The firebender feels the man behind him hum, feels the vibrations through his chest, feels him shift and wrap his arms tighter around him, pulling him close and curling in around him . . . this is too much for him, his heart is beating insanely fast and his face is burning, the roaring of his blood and the heat coiling within his gut.

“You could stay, convince your uncle I can pay for your guys’ rent.”

_Take care of you._

This annoys Zuko, never once had he needed to depend on an _Alpha_ to take care of him, not his uncle, not the men he’d been saddled with as a crew, not the random stray they happened to meet while on the road, and he wasn’t about to start because Jet just so happened to be a friend, he elbows the Earth Kingdom male in the ribs, he feels the taller wince, but his arms release their hold on him. Sitting up, Zuko slips out of the bed that was much more comfortable than his own, and starts dressing himself. The sooner he got out of here, the sooner he would be able to clear his mind and calm his misbehaving body, he had to double check and see if his heat really **was** due within two weeks . . . as he walks the streets back to the place he shared with his uncle, Zuko can feel eyes on him from all over, it makes him more than uneasy, makes him wonder if there’s something on him, but whenever he looks to see who it is that is staring so intently at him, he sees several heads turn away, it makes him paranoid.

All but slamming the door of their apartment, Zuko closes his eyes and takes a deep, calming breath, when he opens his eyes, he finds his uncle staring at him with wide eyes. The banished prince looks away from his uncle’s curious gaze stubbornly, but his traitorous body betrays him by heating his face up . . . it wasn’t like he and Jet **did** anything!

“How was dinner with your friends?”

Zuko’s initial response is to deny their relationship with him, but he frowns, “Fine.”

“Oh?”

The way the man questions it makes Zuko meet his uncle’s gaze, he can’t quite tell what it is he sees in his uncle’s eyes, and while it annoys him, he knows he isn’t one to coax the answer out of his uncle, let alone anyone, he was more likely to demand they tell him, and that method only got him so far, more so now that he was no longer royalty . . . it’s nearing the end of the lunch rush when Zuko realizes that he’s being watched, again, when he looked over his shoulder at the sensation, he would spot the same girl sitting in the corner of the shop. The firebender had seen her within the shop several times, always in the same spot, always wearing that suspicious expression. It made him suspicious. Again.

When he went to his uncle with his suspicions, he was greeted with one of the weirdest things he’s heard his uncle say, up to date:

“You’re right Zuko, I’ve seen that girl in here quite a lot. It seems she has quite the little crush on you~.”

Zuko’s voice does **not** crack as he reels away from his uncle, “ **What?!** ”

“Thank you for the tea~.”

Both Zuko and his uncle turn to face the speaker, only to find that it’s that girl, Zuko feels his suspicion spike, had she heard what they were talking about, how long had she been standing there, and if she knew they were Fire Nation, could that mean she also knew what he really was?

Zuko takes the girl’s money and attempts to busy himself, hoping that she wouldn’t pry, that she would just leave, it was hard enough with Jet and his questions, but with a stranger he hadn’t said a **word** to would be a lot harder, but she speaks once more.

“What’s your name~?”

Zuko turns around, “My name’s Li.” he’s very much aware of how uncomfortable he is, “My uncle and I just moved here.”

“Hi Li, my name’s Jin.” she keeps looking at him through her lashes in a way that makes his heart rate pick up a tad, she looks away, “Thank you and, I was wondering if you would like to go out sometime~?”

_Go out?_

Would he like to go out? As in . . . friends? Or a date?

“He’d love to~!”

“Great~!” she starts to turn, “I’ll meet you in front of the shop at sundown~.”

A hand is placed upon his shoulder; he turns to glare at his uncle when the girl’s back is turned, his uncle simply smiles at him like he were proud, even though **Zuko** wasn’t the one who answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy . . . .


	11. XI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I uploaded this chapter, but apparently I didn't and it's just . . . wtf? I need to check my other stories and make sure I didn't upload the chapter that was supposed to be here somewhere else. Hope you enjoy!

**Glass Half Empty**

**XI**

A date, Zuko had no idea what one did on a date, let alone how to interact with the person he was going on a date with, never once had he cared that he wasn’t as socially adept as his sister, or even Jet for that matter, but now he was beginning to wonder just how disastrous this date was going to be . . . as much as Zuko would like to get this whole ordeal over and done with, that wasn’t to say Jin wasn’t pretty, she was, it was simply out of his comfort zone, his uncle wasn’t having any of his half-assed attempts. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it **right** and have the _time of his life_.

Like that would happen, if anything, he was going to make an ass out of himself.

But like always, the younger firebender relented to the wills of his relative and sat down, letting the old Alpha fret over his hair and fuss over his clothing. When the time came for him to meet with Jin, he felt very much like a damn fool, before he could contemplate on how awkward this was, Jin came around the corner, her hair fixed and dressed nicely.

“Hey, wow.” she points at him, “Look at you~.” she then reaches up with her hand and ruffles his hair, “You look so cute~.”

Zuko reaches up, his hand bumping hers as he attempts to smooth his now mussed hair, the young male only arguing on behalf of his uncle’s hard work, after all, he wasn’t too thrilled with the combed over look either, “It took my uncle 10 minutes to do my hair.”

Jin just smiles prettily and wraps her arms around his one and starts leading him away from the front of the shop, he casts on more look over his shoulder at the safety of the teashop, unaware that he was being watched from the dark of the rooftops . . . Jet had been the tiniest bit uneasy when Li had said that he would not be joining them for dinner, the pale teen stating that he already had plans for dinner, and that wasn’t what had struck Jet as odd, it had been the **way** he’d said it that really got to the tan Alpha. Enough so that he decided that he would tail Li to see what it was that made him _skittish,_ and what he saw wasn’t what he’d been expecting: Li all gussied up, his uncle’s doing it seemed like with how awkward Li looked, it was a little funny and he even thought Mushi would be joining him soon enough, but instead of the old Alpha, some unnamed girl rounded the corner and sauntered straight up to Li. They traded words and she reaches forward to mess his hair up, he notices how Li didn’t **immediately** pull away, and it stung. Nope, Li doesn’t do much in the way of putting distance between them, he just lets the girl wrap her arms around him and drag him off Spirits knows where, the guy casting one last look back at the teashop like he were expecting someone there.

_“I have plans for dinner, Jet.”_

Growling low within his throat, Jet jumps from the rooftops and lands in the street once they’re long out of sight, he probably should follow them, to monitor their interactions, but he knows that if he were to do so and things were to go further between the two, he would do something that he would either regret, or make a complete mess of everything . . . his Alpha half was warping the entire situation into some kind of challenge, issued from both Li and the girl, and demanding that he hunt them down, pick Li up, take him home, throw him onto his bed, and stake his claim permanently, of course he knew better, or rather, he knew Li would be upset.

But of course Jet would be furious, Li, his **boyfriend** , was going out with some girl, sure she had a nice body and all, but that didn’t warrant the need to cheat on him! And what’s more, Li had actually groomed himself, or allowed himself to be groomed, to look his best for the date! He never did that with Jet!

Beyond upset, Jet trudges home . . . that night, Zuko returns to his room after answering his uncle’s question on if he had fun, he was feeling all kinds of messed up, he felt soft and content. What was with these Earth Kingdom people and making him feel like he were actually normal?

The next morning, Zuko stares up at the ceiling, he hadn’t been able to get much sleep, his thoughts focused too entirely on Jin and the kiss they had shared, it was nice, it really was, but that is why it terrified him. A romantic relationship wasn’t something he could take right now, he was . . . still lost and didn’t know what to do with himself, sure, he liked to think that his plans were simply on hold until the foreseeable future, but lately, thoughts of _what if_ were beginning to creep into his head and lodge themselves within the cogs of his brain, and he didn’t like it one bit, his head felt overstuffed.

Aside from that, he can’t stop life, he gets ready for work and idles the day away, he doesn’t see Jin, not that he was looking or anything, really, he doesn’t know how long he sits in a daze until lunch came and he was excused for his break . . . as soon as he exits the teashop and closes the door behind him, a hand grabs his wrist and tugs him in the opposite direction of the eateries.

“Wha-?!” he sees Jet, “Jet? What are you doing?!” he sees the other’s hand on his wrist, dangerously close to his scent gland, or rather, touching it if it weren’t for the clothing in the way, “Let go!” the prince tears his wrist away and glares at Jet, something is off about the other, it unsettles Zuko enough that he feels his hackles begin to rise and hisses at the other, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I saw you last night.” Jet says, voice too serious for Zuko’s liking.

Jet watches Li’s angered expression turn to confusion, then a look of dread flash within his eyes, he looks around like he were expecting someone to be listening in on them, or even looking for a possible escape route, but everyone is going on with their business and Jet is going to let Li escape, when Li looks back at him, he looks guarded and ready for a fight.

“What were you doing? Following me?”

“No, I just happened to be walking in the neighborhood.” Jet doesn’t like the reserved expression Li is attempting to wear, looking like he were ready for a fight . . . it eases Jet’s anger a tad, not like that Li really thinks Jet would hurt him over something like this, it was just one date, not like they did anything, right? “Was it your uncle’s idea?”

Li blinks, looks at him, still looking like he were ready to fight for his life, or run, “What?”

“The date with that girl, was it your uncle’s plan?”

“Date?” Li now looks confused, before realization dawns on him, “O-Oh, yeah, that was . . . what does it matter?”

_“Why does it matter?”_ Jet repeats in a low growl as he crowds into Li’s space, Li doesn’t back down, but he’s now tense, “You’re my boyfriend, of course it matters to me.”

Li’s eyes widen and red overtakes his cheek, the tension in his body leaving him as he stares up at Jet, “I’m . . . what?” he looks lost, oh so lost, “When . . . when did that happen?!”

“When did . . . ?!” Jet is looking at Li, completely incredulous, “You’re joking, right?”

“Do I sound like I’m joking?!”

No, he sounds a tad distraught.

“Why the fuck do you think I’ve been kissing you?!”

“I . . . ! I don’t know! I didn’t think that it was because we were in some relationship!”

“I even told you I liked you!”

“When?!”

“The night I stayed at your place!”

“I . . . !” Li looks contemplative, then lets out a frustrated huff, “I kind of zoned out.”

“This is fucking ridiculous.”

Li looks unsure of what to do, and honestly, Jet doesn’t know what to do either . . . this entire time, Li had been letting him hang onto him because he’d thought they were friends, sure, friends would often do that kind of stuff if they were _really_ close, like childhood friends, but usually kissing on the lips or touching the scent glands were forbidden because it was so much more intimate, what the fuck kind of friends did Li have to even think that’s what was going on?

“I still want you.” Jet says in the end, he sees how Li looks embarrassed at his blatant declaration, “Do you want me?” Li is just blinking owlishly at him with those wide eyes of his, “As in, more than friends.”

Li purses his lips, “I don’t know.”

Zuko doesn’t know what to do, this entire time Jet had been thinking they were _dating?_

And of course this had to come up after Zuko had just told Jin that things were complicated, and they were, and he couldn’t just turn her down and accept Jet, could he? That would be rude and unfair to her, and he still wasn’t sure what he wanted with his life at the moment, but if he refused Jet, did that mean things would sever between them? Would he care if it did?

“I don’t know.” Zuko murmurs, “I just . . . just give me some time to think, okay?”

“All right, Li.” Jet speaks softly, “Just know that I’ll be waiting for your answer.”

Zuko refuses the urge to bite his lip, “And . . . what if I say no?”

“It’d hurt,” Jet starts, “but I would understand.”

Zuko looks up at Jet from underneath his lashes, unaware of the effect it had on Jet, “And . . . we would still be friends though, right?”

Jet smiles gently, “Of course.”

Zuko looks away, “Okay.” he then sighs, “I have to get back to work.”

Jet knows Li doesn’t necessarily have to as they had only been talking for a handful of minutes, but he nods, allowing the smaller teen to walk away. Running a hand through his hair, he decides that he’ll do something productive instead of waiting for Li’s answer, like learning a thing or two about Omegas, and the best place to do that would be at the brothel, he would be ready to take care of Li should Li decide that he would like to give their relationship a try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zuko finally gets on the same page as Jet . . . .


	12. XII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, the new chapter!

**Glass Half Empty**

**XII**

The teashop is a terrible place to let his mind wander, there’s always someone who needs something or someone who has something to say, and he needs his full concentration in order to make it through the day of demanding patrons who think so much higher of themselves simply because they’re being served, Zuko would like to teach them a thing or two, but that would definitely get a cut in his pay. But back to the thought at hand: Jet.

What was he going to do about Jet?

Or Jin for that matter?

Unlike Jet, Jin had already backed off, so was it really okay to still be thinking of Jin despite things having ended between them the way they did? And Jet already proved that he had a bit of a jealous streak, so was there any need to wonder?

If he did go for Jet, what would that entail?

It had been a few days since he’d last talked to Jet, or saw him for that matter, he couldn’t stand the thought of facing him with the knowledge of his interest on his mind, he may not know much about Jet, yet he knew him enough to know that he was serious and would wait, but the thing was, Jet was dangerous, he hated the Fire Nation which Zuko was, and the Prince of it to boot. If Jet were to find out, he would most definitely try to kill him, or turn him in if he didn’t have the heart to do it himself, despite their relationship status . . . letting out a low growl, Zuko storms back to the kitchen where his uncle is brewing some more teas. Normally he wouldn’t bother his uncle with such things, but he didn’t know what to do, unlike his uncle, he wasn’t a people person.

“Uncle?”

“Yes, my nephew~?”

“Someone told me that they, **like** me.”

“Oh?” Iroh turns to smile at him, “You have another secret admirer?” Zuko feels his cheek burn, “Who knew my beloved nephew would become such a serial heartbreaker~?” he turns to the younger man, “So, who is this new suitor~?

Zuko dips his head, “It’s . . . well, it’s Jet. Apparently he thought we were dating, but I didn’t know, he told me he was still interested, and if I was too, I told him I wasn’t sure. That was a few days ago.”

Since Zuko is not looking at his uncle, he doesn’t see the myriad of emotions that flicker across the old Alpha’s face, “Oh.”

Finally, Zuko looks up at his relative, “What do you think I should I do?”

Iroh braces himself, no matter how he worded this, it would still ruffle his nephew’s feathers, “If you really want my opinion, I would advise that you should not try for a relationship with him. I know he is a nice young man, but I can see he still has quite a bit of rage within him, a rage born of hatred for the Fire Nation, if you were to enter a relationship with him, it would be unfair to both of you. You would be lying to him, and he would love someone who is not you, the true you.”

Iroh watches his nephew as his words start to sink in, the young man lets out an annoyed huff and picks up the tray he’d been toting around all day and storms out of the back and in to the main room. The retired war general sighs and hopes that his nephew would listen to him for once . . . a loud crash sounding from where the patrons sit has Iroh rushing out of the back, he spots his nephew staring down at the floor where the serving tray was upended with cups of spilled tea. The sight of the wasted tea brings a small tear to his eye, but he has no time to lament on the tragedy when a man taller than his nephew and twice as large grabs said young man by the front of his robe and pulls him close so they’re nose to nose, an intimidation tactic if he’s ever seen one.

“Watch where you’re going, **Omega**.”

Iroh feels his heart drop while Zuko tenses, “Now, now,” Iroh says as he swoops in, more to save this man than his nephew, he holds his hands up in a placating gesture, “What seems to be the problem, sir?”

“This **Omega** ,” the man spits, giving Zuko a little shake, “bumped into me and spilled tea all over my brand new clothes!”

The various patrons that had been enjoying their teas are now watching, whispering to and amongst themselves:

_“Mushi’s nephew is an Omega?”_

_“He really doesn’t have the temperament for an Omega.”_

_“The poor thing, I wonder if that scar has anything to do with his attitude.”_

_“It would be hard to find a nice Alpha to settle down with.”_

Iroh knows his nephew can hear their whisperings as well for his shoulders begin to tense and rise, the smoldering tip of the incense that had been lit fluctuates with the breathing of his nephew, it’s only a matter of time before his nephew’s frayed control cracks, Iroh has to do damage control and hope he doesn’t step on his nephew’s pride in the process.

“Please sir,” he starts once more, “I’m sure it was an honest mistake, little mistakes such as these are what keep life exciting. Please, allow us to treat you to a free cup of tea as an apology for what has happened.”

The man seems to ponder the offer, which is a good sign for both the man and his nephew, “Very well, I’ll consider it payment for the clothes, but I **still** want an apology from you.”

What little hope Iroh had about resolving this soundly is quickly dashed, the man is leveling a smug glare at Zuko, his nephew grits his teeth, “I didn’t do anything that warrants any sort of apology.”

The man snarls, “The tea on my robes says different.”

Iroh can see the exact moment Zuko’s control on his anger splits.

Zuko grabs the man’s wrist, baring his teeth, “ **You’re** the one who bumped into me.”

And Zuko was telling the truth, he had been moving to refill some old couple’s cups when the man had entered, the refugee prince hadn’t cared too much about the newcomer, simply greeting him with a cursory glance to see the new face before he went on with his business, he had been walking by the man when the man suddenly stepped in front of him, and Zuko had been much too close to stop. They collided. The man had looked stunned, like he didn’t quite understand what was going on before he seemed to snap out of it . . . now the man had just given his rank away and he could still hear the whisperings of how he wasn’t normal for an Omega, how it would be hard for him to find a proper mate with such a sizable and obvious **blemish** , but Zuko had to wonder how the man knew what he was.

Zuko snarls loud enough to cut through the mumblings, he tightens his grip on the man’s wrist, “Let me go.”

“Or what, Omega?” the man snarls, several of the patrons look nervous, like they want to jump in and save the **helpless** Omega, but remain seated because this man is an Alpha, and Alphas tend to do rash and stupid things when they were aggressive. “You’re going to make the old Alpha fight your battles?”

Letting go of the man’s wrist and smacking at his hand hard enough the man’s grip comes loose, Zuko rears his body back and lunges, shoving his arms outward and sending the man flying through the door he’d come in from, he hears the startled gasps of the people over the satisfying sound of wood breaking. The man hurries to get back to his feet in a clumsy display, when their gazes catch, Zuko knows the man’s Alpha pride is bruised.

“Old man!” he snarls, his voice taking on an intimidating growl, “Come control your Omega before I do it for you!”

Zuko can hear his uncle plead with him, “Nephew, please, this man is not worth your energy.”

Hearing a commotion coming from the direction of the teashop, Jet stops, the teashop and the surrounding area was what Jet considered to be Li’s territory, and since Li has yet to talk to him, he doesn’t want to overstep, but his curiosity urges him to seek out the source of the noise. Deciding that there was nothing wrong with looking so long as Li didn’t spot him, he starts for the noise and finds a large crowd surrounding a brawl, he tells himself that there was nothing wrong with watching free entertainment and makes his way through the crowd, he hears murmurs of _Omega_ from some of the people as he elbows his way past, Jet can assume that two Alphas are fighting over the same Omega. But when he finally reaches the center, he sees that it isn’t a pair of Alphas fighting, but an **Omega** and an Alpha that is duking it out, and not just any Omega, it was Li . . . his initial response is to move, to help Li, but he stands where he is and just watches the way the dark haired refugee moves as he fights an opponent larger than him. It’s precise, elegant, and speaks of power, he moves like he’s done this a million times, like fighting is all he’s ever known in life, and it’s absolutely mesmerizing.

Li finally knocks the raging Alpha on his back, bristling and glaring down at the man like he was so far beneath him that he couldn’t believe he’d just wasted time fighting him. There are patches of dirt on Li’s clothing that suggests he had been knocked down but had gotten back up, he’s breathing heavy through his mouth, and his expression is twisted in anger, he couldn’t be farther from an Omega than he is right then, but to Jet, he was beautiful.

“I may be an Omega,” Li snarls, voice low and full of warning to the man still lying on his back, attempting to get his breathing back under control, “but I am **far** from being weak, so remember that the next time you think you can muscle me into apologizing for something I wasn’t at fault for.”

Just then, a bunch of city guards enter the ring and move to situate themselves between the two brawlers:

“What’s going on here?!”

Mushi steps forward from the crowd, “This man here was harassing my nephew.”

Several others speak up in defense of Li, it was then that he realized what it was that Li had said, had the man found out Li was an Omega and thought he could bully him into submission? If so, how did he find out?

The guards gather the man, one muttering in clear disapproval and disgust, “As an Alpha citizen in Ba-Sing-Se, you should know better than to attack an Omega, and such a young one at that.”

They take the man away after checking on Li and assuring that the **Omega** was okay, each time the “O” word was uttered, Li’s fists would clench like he would love nothing more than to sock them in the jaw, instead he walks away from the decision to do something stupid, but Jet can still see the tension in his body. The tension ramps up when several of the patrons attempt to soothe Li who all but snarls at them, this gets some of them to back off, but they’re still looking at him like he might break, looking at him with pity in their eyes, Mushi attempts to distract them, but Jet knows they’re still thinking of Li and his rank . . . when the people drift off, Jet enters the shop and sees Li kneeled beside a bunch of broken cups on the floor, he scans the area and sees several of the patrons watching him, looking like they were wanting nothing more than to jump in and stop Li at any second, afraid that he would cut himself on the shards, Jet frowns and wonders if any of these people watched the same fight he did where he laid a man twice his size flat on the ground.

“Hey Li,” Jet greets, he sees Li tense, “What’re you doing?”

Li starts to bristle, “What does it **look** like I’m doing?”

“Do you need any help with that?”

“No.”

Jet shrugs, “Okay.” he moves to one of the nearby tables, he can feel several eyes on him, he grins at Li who is scowling at the shards he picks up, “Mind getting me a cup of jasmine then once you’re done?”

Li flicks an annoyed look his way and says through gritted teeth, “Fine.”

Jet grins at the annoyed teenager, “Great~.”

When Li leaves, finished with his task, Jet notices a few people give him disgusted looks, he knows what they’re thinking, they’re wondering how he can let an Omega do something as dangerous as picking up shards of broken cups, besides, it wasn’t like this particular Omega scowled twenty-four-seven and snarled at anyone who tried to coddle him. One mention of what he truly was seemed to be enough for people to forget **who** he was . . . Jet does his best to not cause trouble, knows that if he does, he will be kicked from the establishment, so he keeps quiet and stews in the ignorance of those around him. When Li finally arrives and sets Jet’s cup down, Jet moves to take the steaming cup of tea when he hears Li:

“After work, I need to talk to you.”

Jet nods, “Sure thing.”

With that, Li leaves Jet to enjoy his tea, it had only been a few days since he’d last talked to Li, and as much as he would like for this talk to be about his confession, he doubted it was the real reason. Leaving a healthy tip for his **favorite** worker, he exits the establishment . . . when the workday is done, Jet kicks off the wall of the alley he’d been loitering in, he steps up beside Li when he sees the boy leave the shop.

“You wanted to talk?”

Li looks up at him, “There’s an abandoned warehouse in the metal workshop district, you’re coming with me to this warehouse and that is where we’re going to spar. I’m going to need it after today.”

“Spar?” Jet questions.

Li looks at him, annoyance in his eyes, “Is there a problem?”

“Not at all,” Jet grins, not only was this the perfect time to prove himself to Li, but he also got to spend some alone time with him, “I’m up for it if you are.”

Li looks forward and they walk to Li’s apartment, Jet is lost in his thoughts and doesn’t notice that he’s followed Li straight into his room until Li turns and pushes him back out, Jet nearly trips over his own two feet at the sudden shove. Looking around, he moves to sit at the small table; he is not disappointed when Li reemerges dressed in all black that appears a little tighter than his usual clothes, but what really gets him is the familiar blue mask strapped to his hip . . . Li was the Blue Spirit?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to get a little more serious after this!


	13. XIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, and I'm so fucking tired at the moment . . . but hey, here you go! If you're still reading!

**Glass Half Empty**

**XIII**

Getting to his feet, Jet inhales, ready to call Li out on his sudden reveal, but the other just turns towards the shutters and throws them open, making it obvious that he didn’t want to talk, at least not yet, so Jet shuts his mouth and gets up to follow the dark clothed male out into the night, making sure to keep his thoughts to himself . . . they travel from rooftop to rooftop, swift and silent, and for once, everything feels right in the world. It feels like they peel the layers of the city off of them as they fly through the dark city, lit up by lanterns only, and it’s the first time since he’d arrived that he felt like himself.

A hand grabs him and tugs him close, Jet watches Li who had slipped that mask on, he’s peering around the corner, when Jet looks for himself, he sees, jumping from roof to roof, the Dai-Li. They stand in silence, watching the suspicious robed men disappear into the distance, luckily not heading in the direction it seemed they were going. Li slips out from their cover with Jet following shortly after.

When they arrive in the metal district, Jet watches Li drop to the streets below, landing with practiced ease, Jet follows, watching Li as he moves towards the mouth of the alleyway and looking both ways of the empty street, he must see no one because he comes back and gestures for Jet to follow him deeper into the alley. They come across a metal door that Li manages to pick open; the door hinges screech with disuse, but the sound is drowned out by the rest of the clinking of metal within the district. Entering the building, he watches Li move into the room, closing the door behind him, Jet can’t see much, but he can hear Li moving, he hears what sounds like a rock striking another, then sees a spark, an orange light soon bathes the large room in a haunting glow, Jet sees Li placing a pair of spark rocks beside the candle he’d lit. When Li turns to him, he decides that now is as good a time as any to question the other teen about his blue mask, one he starts to remove . . . Jet scans the warehouse they’re in, made of wood and stone with abandoned smelters and iron anvils, there are webs and a heavy layer of dust. How Li came across this place, he wants to know.

“So,” Jet starts, he walks in a large arc, he can feel Li watching him intently, “How’d you find this place?”

Jet stops, his back on Li, he hears the teen huff, “Do you really think this is the first time I’ve wandered the city at night?”

Jet hums, he turns with a grin, “And you didn’t think to invite me?” he sees Li’s confused expression, the look more pronounced since he’s being highlighted by the lit candle, “Trust me when I say that I never felt more alive in this city than I did sneaking around, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.”

Li gets this pensive look on his face, brows scrunched, “I’ll think about it next time, but no promises.” he reaches behind him where his scabbard is and pulls out his weapons, the blades glinting as they slice through the air in an elegant move, precise and deadly, “Now, are you ready?”

“Well,” Jet cocks a hip, “I do have one more question.”

Li grits his teeth, a low growl heard just barely underneath the clanging of metal from somewhere within the neighborhood, “What is it?”

“That mask of yours,” he sees Li tense, “where’d you get it?”

“It was . . . something I picked up a while ago.”

“How long ago?”

“Months.”

Jet bites at the corner of his lip, letting it go, “Did you know the Fire Nation are looking for someone with a mask exactly like that one there, they call him the _Blue Spirit.”_

“I’ve heard.”

“And?”

“And what?” Li spits.

Jet fights down his urge to smile at the tart response, “Is that you?”

Li’s shoulders start to hunch forward, he’s bristling, “So what if I am?”

This time Jet allows himself to smile, “Nothing, but it explains so much.”

Li’s eyes narrow, “Does it?”

Jet doesn’t bother to answer, just keeps on smiling and grabs his hook swords, “Ready when you are~.”

Li bares his teeth; Jet’s smile melts into a smirk, something that definitely gets on Li’s nerves for he’s the one to make the first step, Jet is just all too happy to meet him in the middle. Their swords clash and lock, small sparks live short lives. The blades push against one another, attempting to gain leverage; Li does end up pushing him back. Immediately disengaging, Jet jumps out of Li’s reach just as Li swipes at him, lunging both blades forward; Jet meets them with his own, the blades harmlessly sliding against one another. They’re chest to chest; Jet smirks down at Li who growls low in his throat. Not really attempting to get a hold himself back, he leans forward and presses a kiss to Li’s lips . . . eyes widening, Zuko stares straight ahead, not really seeing Jet but feeling him close, Jet presses harder against his mouth, feeling his face catch fire, he slips a leg between them and plants his foot on Jet’s stomach, shoving the other as hard as he can, he hears Jet’s breath leave him as he’s pushed back, the force of the shove sending him skidding a small bit, the Earth Kingdom Alpha groans but Zuko gives him no time to react as he pounces, his knees digging into Jet’s chest as painful as he can make it, and presses both blades against the other’s throat, he doesn’t realize he’s growling as loud as he is until he snarls:

“What was that!?”

Zuko watches Jet crack one eye open, he offers a smile that comes across more as a grimace, “A kiss . . . I thought you would have known what that is, considering you’d let me do it before.”

“That was before.” Zuko snarls, pressing the blades a little deeper.

Jet winces, Zuko realizes that one of the blades had managed to cut into skin, especially when he sees dark red spread out onto the edge of his right blade and start to dribble down the edge, an internal part of him flinches, but he remains resolute in his indignant anger. But Jet laughs soon enough, not the least bit caring that when he does so, the blades dig deeper into his skin, Zuko feels a flash of confusion and concern, and the strong urge to pull away, he doesn’t mean to jump when he feels hands rest lightly on his waist, he hears Jet’s laugh turn into a soft chuckle.

“What about after?”

Zuko feels his brows pinch before the hands on his waist move and grab his wrists, twisting them and forcing him to drop his swords, hissing, Zuko is surprised when he’s thrown off, he rolls onto his feet and glares at Jet who reaches up with one hand and touches the injury, he makes a face but doesn’t say anything, just huffs a quiet laugh. Zuko doesn’t expect him to move so suddenly afterwards, the taller going straight for his legs, he doesn’t expect the shout of surprise to come from him when he finds his world falling along with him. Flat on his back, he stares up at Jet with wide eyes, the other is grinning, wild and carefree, a smear of blood on his cheek . . . he looks **alive.** Feeling his heart start to speed up with weird palpitations, and his face start to heat up, he begins to panic and lashes out with a punch. From that moment on, their supposed dignified spar turns into an all out brawl, graceless, without structure, and absolutely boorish.

In the aftermath, Jet is attempting to catch his breath on his hands and knees, his head hanging with beads of sweat dropping from his nose, he’s battered and dirty, his clothing askew and wrinkled, while Zuko lies on his back a little ways away from Jet, spread out like a starfish and staring at the old ceiling, he can feel the beginnings of bruises forming, he feels sticky with cooling sweat, his chest heaving as he gulps lungfuls of air, his clothes are just as dirty as Jet’s, his body feels sore even. When he turns his head to look at the other, and sees him hunched over on his hands and knees, Zuko feels an odd sensation in his chest; he turns away from the sad sight the other makes and _laughs._ The sound is dry and unused, it’s also short lived, more like a chuckle than an actual laugh, he knows this catches Jet’s attention because he can feel eyes on him.

“That wasn’t what I’d been expecting.” Zuko murmurs, voice just a notch above a whisper, he rolls over and pushes himself up until he’s sitting on his folded legs, “But . . . it was, what I needed.”

He hears Jet huff, “Glad to help.”

Jet gets to his feet while Zuko continues sitting on the dirty floor, the other gathers their weapons and even Zuko’s mask, he sets his swords at his sides and hands Zuko’s own weapons and mask over. The Fire Nation prince takes the weapons and sheathes them, he takes the mask and stares at it a moment. A hand enters his view, when he looks up, he sees Jet, looking at his hand once more, he takes it hesitantly, allowing Jet to help him to his feet. Turning his mask over, he stares through the eyeholes before looking up from underneath his eyelashes to find Jet watching him, that feeling from before returns, the odd feeling of his heart beating against his chest, loud in his ears, the palpitations, the heating of his body. Hesitantly, he steps closer to Jet, the latter allowing Zuko to take the initiative and not moving, he leans forward, pressing their lips together. The weird beating of his heart beats faster, he thinks his heart is literally attempting to beat out of his chest, and the weird skipping feeling, was that natural, or was something wrong with his heart, was he going to die?

It becomes worse when he feels Jet step closer, to shift until their bodies are pressed comfortably against each other, he feels arms wrap around him, holding him secure, and he feels shivers run down his spine when the kiss is deepened. Spirits, his body was going to give out on him, he really was going to die. The taller teen pulls from the kiss, Zuko knows he’s looking at him, but he can’t bring himself to look at Jet, not until he feels a hand cup his chin and gently lift his head, when their eyes meet, Zuko’s stomach starts to feel light and sickly. Was it him, or was it getting harder to breath? And swallow?

“Does this mean what I think it means?”

And Jet’s voice, was it ever as soft as it was in that moment?

“I . . . ,” when did it get hard to talk? “If you mean relationship wise, I think, yes.”

The smile Jet gives him makes his insides melt, Agni, Jet was going to kill him, maybe he made a mistake?

Their mouths meet again, his knees feel weak, this time, when Jet pulls away, Zuko attempts to follow his lips, only to catch himself and reel back, when he does, the blue mask between them falls, landing with a loud clatter that startles both teens out of their dreamy lull. This time, Zuko’s face heats up from the familiar flare of embarrassment . . . watching Li pick up the mask, Jet’s insides start to feel warm and fuzzy, happy beyond belief, had he ever been this happy before?

They leave the same way they’d come.

Slipping into Li’s apartment, Jet watches the pale boy start for his room, he’s ready to leave when he hears Li’s soft voice.

“Follow me.”

Curious, Jet does as told and follows Li into his room, he watches Li set his mask and swords underneath a loose floorboard before he turns to Jet and gestures to the futon.

“Sit.”

So Jet does.

Li leaves, Jet tries to hear what the other is doing, but resigns himself to whatever fate Li had in mind for him, he reaches up with a hand and rubs at his tense neck, when he does, he winces, pulling his hand away, he sees blood and remembers the cut Li had given him. Just then, Li enters the room with a small box, he closes the door and moves to kneel before Jet, his attention solely on the box.

“I’m sorry.” Li murmurs as he opens the box, “For the cut.”

“It’s fine.”

“It . . . isn’t fine.”

Jet can see the familiar look of self loathing in the other’s eyes, he sighs and helps Li gather the necessary things, Jet sits in silence while Li cleans up the wound he’d inflicted, when it’s over, Jet can’t help but smirk at the other.

“No kiss to make it better~?”

This makes Li’s eyes widen, a small blush playing on his cheek, but to Jet’s astonishment, he does lean forward and places a kiss on the bandage, Jet can feel the press of his lips through the gauze, and the heat goes straight to his face.

Li pulls back, “There.”

“Thanks.” Jet murmurs.

“Stay.” Li whispers.

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly hope this was okay and not rushed or whatever . . . also thinking of making another ABO with Jet being an Omega this time, I think that'd be interesting. What about you?


	14. XIV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update! This was made with the help of my dearest and most trusted friend, Zuko_of_Asgard so you better bet your asses there's going to be some major fluff to ever fluff in this fluffing story!

**Glass Half Empty**

**XIV**

Body feeling comfortably heavy, Jet wakes to find himself somewhere he doesn’t quite recognize, except for the faint scent surrounding him in a comforting embrace. Craning his neck, he sees Li, still asleep it seems and lying on his side with his back facing him, the pale teen curled in on himself. Remembering last night, he relaxes and takes to watching Li, reaching out, he moves closer until he’s spooning the other boy, he wraps his arm around Li’s midsection, careful not to touch his stomach: something he’d learned from the courtesans as an Omega’s stomach was often considered to be similar that of an animal’s _soft underbelly_ , that meant if an Omega allowed one to touch their stomach, they trusted that person.

Pressing his nose against the back of Li’s neck, he inhales deep and closes his eyes, ready to fall back into a restful slumber, until he hears the sound of the door sliding open. Reopening his eyes, he looks towards the entrance to the room and spots Mushi staring wide eyed at the two of them, the old man blinks several times as if to clear his vision before he bows his head in silent apology and leaves. It isn’t how Jet wanted Li’s uncle to find out, but sooner rather than later was always better than not at all. Breathing deeply once more, he snuggles against Li’s warm back and closes his eyes . . . seconds later, Li starts to move, Jet tightens his hold on Li and forces the latter to curl up the same way he does, not a second later, he feels Li speak.

“What’re you doing?”

Was his voice ever so calming?

“Trying to sleep, you should try it.”

Li sighs, but settles back down.

Jet remembers, “Your uncle came in.”

“What?!” he feels Li tense, not a beat later before he’s ripping himself from his hold, turning to look at Jet as if to understand better, “What . . . did he say something, what did he do?”

“He looked surprised, but he apologized for walking and just . . . left.”

“Oh.”

“Do you want to talk to him?”

“No.” Li settles back down, there’s a small bite in his tone, “He probably went to work already.”

Jet hopes this doesn’t come between nephew and uncle, “And what are you going to do?”

“Take the day off.”

Jet assumes this means Li will settle back down with him and sleep a bit longer, perhaps the entire day, but what the other does instead is get up and move towards a small dresser pressed up against the wall, he opens the top drawer and digs around until he grabs something, something that makes a peculiar rattling sound. Observing Li from where he’s laying, he sees Li’s back move as he opens whatever it is he’d grabbed from within the dresser, and holds something in his fist, he closes the small jar and leaves the room. Eyes turning back to the little clay jar Li had left on the dresser’s surface, Jet’s curiosity gets the better of him and forces him to his feet, moving towards the dresser, he reaches out, but before the tips of his fingers can so much as brush against the jar, the door slides open, he recoils as if the small jar combusted suddenly and turns to Li who is staring at Jet.

“I . . . ,” is all Jet can find to say.

Li moves deeper into the room, angling towards Jet and the jar upon the dresser top, he grabs the clay container and starts to fiddle with it, Jet watches Li open the case and has to pull back when his nose is hit with a weird smell that makes him dizzy, the rush of the odd smell coming from the previously closed bottle, Li just tips the jar, unbothered by the smell, Jet can hear the curious rattling again. In Li’s palm sits a bunch of circular, pale blue in color . . . somethings, it looks like crushed, dry grass rolled into a small ball, even flakes like it too.

“They’re suppressants.” Li explains, he carefully pours the medicine back into the jar, “They taste terrible and get stuck in my throat, but I need them . . . I wouldn’t have made it this far without them.”

There’s a tale behind that, but Jet won’t chase the details from Li.

Suppressants. For a heat.

The courtesans explained that it was something taken only when an Omega’s heat was close, kind of like a deterrent for an Alpha’s rut, this meant that Li’s heat was approaching, and soon. But speaking of ruts, Jet lost count of when his is supposed to be happening, he really needed to check in with Longshot and Smellerbee on that, they were usually pretty good with keeping track of that. Li closes the jar and sets it back into the top drawer, nestled amongst random cloths, he moves away and starts gathering his clothes, the two having dressed down last night for sleep . . . forcing himself not to react to the heavy feeling of Jet’s staring, Zuko dresses himself.

Straightening his clothes out, he looks to his . . . boyfriend, and blinks, “Well?”

It’s Jet’s turn to blink in confusion, “What?”

“Are you going to get dressed?” he starts walking for the door, feeling his face begin to heat as he says, “I would like to . . . go on a date, one that I have chosen for myself.”

“O-oh.” he hears Jet stutter, legitimately **stutter** , “Yeah, right, okay.”

Closing the door, Zuko starts his well established morning routine and once finished, he sits at the table and pours himself a hot cup of tea his uncle had so kindly left out. Before he can start to question his own sanity and the shaking of his hands, Jet steps out of the bathing room, looking up from his cup, Zuko watches Jet over the rim of his cup as he takes a sip. The Earth Kingdom teen moves towards the table and sits across from him, their eyes meet and Zuko sets the teacup on the table, arching his good brow, the move seems to prompt Jet into speaking.

“Did you have anything in mind?”

Zuko takes a sip of his tea, “Impress me.”

This gets a surprised look slapped across Jet’s face, the expression then disappears and changes into something smarmy, his smirk curling and eyes twinkling in what the firebender can only assume is mischief.

“All right, I have a few thing in mind.” he stands, “Come on, we need to swing by my place.”

**G-H-E**

Snagging his money pouch from the counter in their dinky kitchen, he stuffs it inside his shirt and turns back to Li with an impish smile, “All right, let’s get going~.”

Opening the door for Li, Jet sees the roll of the other’s eyes and grins bright at the reaction, he follows after his newly acquired boyfriend, making sure to lock the door. Exiting the apartment building, Jet stands beside Li and watches the morning commute a moment before he extends his hand towards Li who looks at his hand like he were expecting some kind of attack, when their eyes meet, Jet feels his heart flip within his chest when he notices how the morning sun catches Li’s eyes and makes them shine, the color reminiscent of honey. Hesitantly, shyly, Li reaches out and entwines their fingers, a beautiful shade of pink highlighting the top of his cheek. Giving Li’s hand a consoling squeeze and a matching smile, he gently tugs at Li and leads the duo into the crowd, merging with the morning commuters.

They don’t talk, content to enjoy one another’s company and the warmth of the morning, relishing in the lull of the new day . . . unbeknownst to Jet, his counterpart was having an internal crisis about things he’d never once thought to care about before.

Sooner than Jet had expected, they reach the quaint little place he’d found during the time he hadn’t seen Li, it was more of a bakery than anything else, but it did provide other foods and perfect outdoor seating overlooking a pond that seemed to house herons. Entering the shop, Jet heads for one of the many tables outside, one of the waitresses smiling at him as he walks by, he offers a smile in return out of sheer politeness alone, he stops when he feels Li squeeze his hand a moment before he removes his hand and links his arm with Jet’s. Realizing the move for what it was, Jet smiles down at Li who is completely unaware of it, and picks their spot a decent ways away from other patrons to give them the allusion of privacy, he sits across from Li, choosing not to push himself into Li’s personal space **too** much.

The waitress from before turns up at their table, takes their orders, and then leaves, like the smile she’d given Jet had meant nothing. It seems Li’s silent show of claim set her straight.

From where they’re sitting, they have a great view of the pond and the people walking to and from destinations they would never know of, unless they asked, but Jet felt it didn’t hurt to contemplate, he turns his attention to Li who seems to be staring off into the distance. Thanks to the help of the brothel workers, he thinks he’s figured out what kind of Omega Li is.

Jet smiles, “So, do you want me to tell you what I’ve got planned, or would you rather I keep it a secret?”

Li makes this pouting face that indicates he’s thinking, Jet feels his smile turn softer and the strong urge to kiss him senseless, instead, he reaches out with his legs and hooks his foot behind Li’s own. This startles the other male, but he relaxes from his tense form. As Li is about to reply, a crooning sound catches not only his attention, but Jet’s as well. Across the way is a pair, one that was taking a step towards the future together. Like the one they’d spotted before, the couple gathers a sizeable crowd . . . but Li looks just as perturbed as he had before, it looks as if he has to force himself to look away. Not wanting Li’s mood to dampen, Jet moves from his seat across from Li and slides onto the small bench Li was occupying, he cuddles up to Li, close and cozy, and dips his head, whispering:

“Well?”

Jet can feel the heat coming from Li’s face, “I . . . wouldn’t mind it being a secret.”

Jet smiles and presses a chaste kiss to Li’s hair, “Okay.”

They slump against one another after that, Jet retelling tales of his time back in the forest while Li listens, absently playing with Jet’s fingers, head resting on his shoulder. The waitress returns with their orders and sets it out for them, she smiles sweetly at the both of them this time and leaves. Once again, they’re left in their own little world, Jet often prompting Li to try one of the dumplings he’d had or the sweet bread, Li even offers Jet a piece or two from his own breakfast.

Finishing their meals, Jet leaves a small tip and pays for the food.

Slipping his hand back into Li’s, they walk the streets, content to walk with their shoulders brushing every so often . . . the sound of an instrument being plucked catches their attention, Jet stops in time with Li, both boys looking in the direction of a man wearing ragged clothes playing a pipa, in front of the man is two women who look to be twins. They move in sync with one another, pushing and pulling, unaware of the fact that the women remind _Li_ of two spirits residing within the North Pole.

They stand amongst the crowd, the sun slowly rising and beginning to really shower them with its light, as much as Jet would like to move for cover from the sun, the amount of people packed close to him doesn’t help with the heat, he stands where he is with Li situated snug against him, watching the entire set.

Once it’s over, Li presses closer to him, whispering:

“You should tip them.”

Jet nods and steps forward, producing three gold pieces.

The man and the two women, who he now assumes to be the man’s daughters, bows before him, “Thank you, young man.”

Jet offers an amiable smile, “It’s no problem, really.”

Returning to Li’s side, he’s the tiniest bit surprised when Li is the one to take his hand.

They wander the marketplace, looking at various knick-knacks and other odd pieces from around the world, Jet ends up buying a trinket or two he’d seen Li eyeing intently before moving on, when he presents said gifts to Li, he commits the surprised expression on Li’s face to memory and the small, embarrassed thanks he gets afterwards, as well as the apology for not being able to get Jet something in return, the taller brushes the apology off and presses a kiss to Li’s cheek.

Coming across a small park, they sit on a stone bench, Li being the one to rest against Jet who is all too happy to wrap an arm around the other . . . Zuko hums contently to each of Jet’s tales, feeling safe pressed against the other, a part of him **did** feel guilty for not opening up with his own past, but Jet didn’t push. It was odd to think that earlier he had felt sick to his stomach with nerves, especially compared to how he felt now, staring at Jet, unaware of the dopey little smile he was sporting, attempting to commit Jet’s features to memory, the warm color of his skin, how his hair fell effortlessly in place, the way his eyes shone in the light, and his smile, wow his smile.

If one were to look at Zuko in that moment, they would see cartoonish hearts floating above his head.

What a sight he would make if his enemies were to see him in that exact moment, unable to control his own expression as he listens to his boyfriend, his **first** boyfriend, and wow, he could listen to Jet all day if he were allowed to do so. The inexplicable feeling in his chest swelling, demanding he do something about it, unaware that his body was preparing to do **just** that, until Jet was staring at him with wide eyes and the faintest hints of a blush creeping across his cheeks.

Yanking himself back to reality a second too late, he realizes that he is, **was** , _crooning._

Wrenching himself back, he slaps a hand over his mouth, eyes wide and face beginning to heat up.

Never had he . . . !

A hand takes his wrist and gently pries his hand from his mouth, Zuko watches Jet from underneath his short fringe, the other smiles so painfully soft and a resounding warble fills the air, it sounds unsure and unaccustomed to being voiced, a partner to his previous vocalization and the beginning of a lover’s serenade. Ducking his head down, he feels his face burning hot in embarrassment, but Jet pulls him close, his shaky warble tapering off into a purr of all things.

It’s a little after lunch that both decide to head home, Jet not parting from Zuko for more than a second, only when they’re a block away from his apartment does it occur to the firebender that he **wants** this soft feeling twisting his insides and turning them to jelly, it’s new and light and warm and just so very . . . wonderful.

They’re standing outside the building he refuses to call home when Jet asks:

“Did you like it? I know it wasn’t anything . . . **big** , but . . . .”

“I . . . ,” Zuko thinks on the hard beating of his heart and the warmth he’d been bathed in throughout the day, not to mention the fact that his body decided to revolt and attempt to coerce Jet into a lover’s serenade, he finally offers the smallest of smiles, “I enjoyed it.”

Jet’s expression softens, he’s looking at him with this look in his eyes that makes Zuko melt, “Great.”

Zuko feels hesitant, playing with the silly little turtle-duck plush Jet had gotten for him, “Do you . . . want to stay for dinner? You could . . . invite Longshot and Smellerbee over, if you wanted?”

“Of course.”

Zuko smiles hesitantly, Jet surges forward and plants a kiss on his lips, a kiss that melts the tension in his body, when they pull away, Zuko’s smile strengthens a tad more.

“ . . . great.”

They enter the apartment room, Jet locking the door and following him to his room where he sets his new possessions on the top of the dresser, so far, his favorite was the turtle-duck doll. The plush little thing reminding him of better times, back when his mother was still in the world of the living, as far as he knew anyways. The two take to snuggling on the futon, Zuko keeping his mind from straying into darker thoughts, and soon enough, they fall asleep, bathed in the warmth of one another.

**_Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!_ **

Feeling Jet move, Zuko’s sleepy mind is aware of him attempting to pull the other back down, Jet whispers to him that he’ll be back, Zuko just mumbles, eyes still closed and lets his consciousness slip.

The door opens, what both Smellerbee and Longshot expect to see is Li, or even Mushi despite the old man most likely being at work, but what they get is their friend and leader opening the door with nothing but his trousers on, looking like he’d just woken up, reeking of something discretely sweet, which meant he’d been hanging with Li this entire time, and looking to be . . . vulnerable.

Jet yawns, “Hey.”

Smellerbee feels her blood boil, here both she and Longshot had been worried sick about him when he hadn’t turned up last night, or this morning, without a **word** , and here he was. Getting cozy with his bristly Omega, leaving them thinking the worst had happened to him. The girl isn’t aware that she’s growling until she feels a hand on her shoulder, looking up, she sees Longshot give her a subtle shake of his head. Gritting her teeth, she takes a deep breath, attempting to not linger on Li’s scent soaking Jet, and addresses their leader as calmly as she can.

“This is where you’ve been?”

Jet cocks his head to the side, “Yeah, pretty much.”

Realizing Jet was being difficult on purpose, she clamps her mouth shut.

But Jet has no problem steering the conversation, he steps aside and allows both inside with a question on his lips, “Do either of you remember when my rut cycle starts?”

This has Smellerbee pausing, with all that has been going on as of late, Jet’s rut cycle was the last thing on her mind . . . yet now that the other Alpha has a special someone, someone who could get **pregnant** , someone who Jet probably **wanted** to get pregnant sometime in the future, someone he wanted to settle down with, build a stupid house, have a stupid family with, she probably should have kept better track of that. But when she looks to Longshot, she sees the Beta nod, giving both Alphas their answer, turning her attention back to Jet, she’s just in time to see this _scatterbrained_ smile spread across his lips, his expressions soft, eyes clouded and distant.

“ . . . seems to line up with Li’s heat.”

The Alpha mumbles to himself as he turns, unwittingly giving his friends the answer to his sudden . . . expression. Certainly she isn’t the only one seeing the scarily **vast** difference between **this** Jet and the Jet from **before** , and when she turns to Longshot with a look she’s sure is stunned, her silent companion just smiles a small, soft smile of his own and gives a slow shake of his head.

**This** is Jet in love.

They’re currently bearing witness to **Jet** in **love** , and it’s . . . honestly a tad scary.

“Um . . . ,” Smellerbee starts, feeling way out of her depth, “ . . . where’s Li?”

“Sleeping.” is the simple answer she gets from Jet.

The female Alpha huffs, “What’s with you two and taking naps all the time?”

Jet gives them a **sheepish** grin, **sheepish** , **Jet**!

“Can’t help it, Bee, he’s just . . . so warm.”

Just then, the door beyond Jet’s shoulder opens and in walks Li, rubbing at his eye and looking like he had just woken up, which knowing what she does now, probably did . . . and oh Spirits, the look on Jet’s face when he sees Li, it’s so disgustingly mushy she finds herself reminiscing on days when Jet would talk them all into crazy schemes, she could hardly believe this was the same guy from back then.

“What’s going on?” Li asks sleepily.

Both Longshot and Smellerbee watch Jet tuck Li against his side, head ducked as he answers:

“Just talking with Bee and Long, apparently they were looking for me.”

Li just hums, and must still be a bit sleepy for he lifts his nose to press it against the underside of Jet’s jaw in an uncharacteristic display of affection. They’re just so cute it’s gross. But Long is watching on with what seems like an almost **proud** smile, then again, he was always a bit of a romantic at heart, and what’s more romantic than seeing their emotionally adverse leader snuggling up to the person he considered to be _the one_.

Really, Smellerbee is happy and all for Jet, he deserves something like this, even if it’s weird for her to bear witness to, but . . . there was still that little something about Li that tugged at her mind, warning her to grab Jet and get out of there as fast as they can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goddamn my teeth are rotting, anyone else? No? Just me? Oh well!


	15. XV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TOOK A GODDAMN WHILE MY BAD PEEPS! WARNING: JERKS, INSECURE ZUKO, A BIT OF ANGST, AND SMUT!

**Glass Half Empty**

**XV**

The morning after the day of their first date, Zuko realized that he’d been acting rather uncharacteristic of himself, but it felt as if it were the happiest he’s ever been thus far and that’s just a wild thought to him, completely blows his mind. To think, a Fire Nation prince in love with an Earth Kingdom commoner, a peasant, what would Azula say should she see him now . . . so far, the only relative aware of his relationship is his uncle, and his uncle hasn’t commented, let alone react, on their relationship despite his initial misgivings about it, and because of this the younger firebender wasn’t quite sure if that bothered him or not. It did seem to bother Jet, which was odd, but the prince assumed it was an Earth Kingdom thing.

Entering their workplace, Zuko is immediately aware of the look Pao is sending him, looking like he were deeply perplexed by the firebender in disguise’s mere presence . . . the prince knew what the old man was thinking of, and it seemed to ring true when the boss man notices that Zuko had caught him staring and turns away quickly, having the damned audacity to pretend like he **hadn’t** just been caught red handed. Already annoyed with the man, the prince bristles and starts for the back room where he throws on his apron in a haphazard show.

**This** is why he never liked people, their constant staring, their unwanted judgment, and he mustn’t forget the spike of fear he often felt when he was sure he would be discovered for what he really is. An Omega, not a firebender. Not that it mattered anymore now, it seemed as if word had spread fast about _Mushi’s Omega nephew_ , there was considerably more Alphas that he hadn’t seen previously . . . just what he needed.

Idiots.

Did they have nothing better to do than gossip?

Or gawk?

Sufficiently infuriated with the turn the day was beginning to take, the teenager starts on washing the dishes while his uncle starts brewing the tea . . . its nearing his lunch break when all hell breaks loose, or rather sours his day. The waiter is going about his usual routine when a group of loud **Alphas** enter the establishment, it wouldn’t have been too bothersome if they weren’t so Agni damned loud, at first, his only thought is of annoyance, wanting to get out of there before they can notice him. They end up picking the table closest to the counter, of all the places, bastards, acting like the stereotypical Alpha, and trust him, there is nothing worse than that, they don’t bother him, he thinks he’s going to get away clean until he walks by, only then does one of them call out to him, he turns to them because he **has** to, gritting his teeth all the while, they wave him over, and knowing a headache when he sees one, he can do nothing more than steel his nerves as he approaches.

“Can I help you?”

“You must be Li.” the Alpha that had waved him over says, “Word on the street says that you scrapped with an Alpha twice your size, and looking at you now,” here the Alpha looks him up and down obnoxiously, “I’d say I believe it.”

_Li_ narrows his eyes at the Alpha, unable to stop his upper lip from curling back to show off his fang, “Your point?”

“I’m curious is all, it isn’t every day someone hears of an **Omega** taking down an Alpha on their own, I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t hot.” the bastard grins up at him, flashing him a straight teethed smile, the way his eyebrow hitches flawlessly means he’s used this exact expression to charm, “And boy, don’t you smell good~.”

A growl forces its way past his teeth, muscles tensing and ready to throw a punch.

Another Alpha in the group laughs, “Man, you have weird taste in your conquests.”

_Conquest_. . . that’s all he was to guys like these.

The Alpha that had been talking to Zuko turns to his friend, “Don’t hate because you’re boring.”

“ **If** ,” Zuko says curtly, interrupting what the other Alpha was about to say, “you aren’t going order, get out.”

“Is something wrong?”

Zuko doesn’t need to turn to know that Jet is approaching them, and it’s ridiculous how relief floods through his system.

“Not at all, we were just talking with ol’ Li here.”

The way this Alpha shoots a quick smile at Li makes Jet doubt that, especially when he notices the way Li moves as he heads for the back of the shop, moving as if he were ready for a fight to break out, Jet turns his attention back to the table of Alphas, considering them for a moment, but before he can so much as start to question them, Li returns.

“Let’s go.”

Taking one last look at the guys, whether it was to remember their faces or to make sure they didn’t try anything funny, he follows his boyfriend out of the shop, once outside, Jet decides to ask:

“What was that about?”

“A bunch of idiots who think that because I’m an . . . O-Omega, who can kick their ass, that I’m some kind of novelty, a kink, because of course **no Omega** ever has kicked an Alpha’s ass before.” Li makes a frustrated groan, angry and ready to rant, and Jet was more than willing to hear his boyfriend’s troubles. “I was afraid that if people found out, they would treat me like a helpless child who can’t do things for themselves, instead, what I get is a bunch of assholes treating me like a freak, a goddamn prize to be won! Which I’m not! I’m a human being!” Li slows to a stop, several people watch them, giving them the side eye as they pass by in a large berth, but Jet doesn’t mind them, not when Li looks so distraught now, burning through his anger quick, “I know I’m not a typical Omega, I’m not pretty, or small, I definitely don’t have the temperament, but I . . . ,” he sighs, “ . . . never mind, let’s just go, I’m hungry.”

**Rage** courses through his veins, burning bright and demanding action.

“You’re not looking too good.” says Jet, keeping his tone light and expression amiable despite the choice of action he is about to take, “Why don’t I see if I can convince Mushi to give you the rest of the day off?”

The look of confusion on Li’s face is adorable, “Jet . . . ,”

“Just wait here, I’ll be back before you start to miss me~.”

Li blusters in that adorable fashion of his, but he does stay put, so turning away from his boyfriend, he starts to make his way back towards the teashop at a brisk pace, and each step that brings him closer, the more his carefully constructed calm starts to tremble and shatter, giving way to fury. Arriving at the shop, he throws the door open to see those same bastards still sitting where they had been when he’d initially left, this time with cups of tea, his loud entrance catches everyone’s attention.

Uncaring of the attention placed on him, he storms up to the table and sucker punches the Alpha he’d seen talking to Li, there are gasps all around the shop, the unsuspecting Alpha tumbles gracelessly to the floor, his friends stand, but their reaction is laughably slow compared to his because he’s already going for another attack, grabbing the sprawled Alpha by the throat and holding tight, growling low within his throat:

“What. Did. You. **Say**. To. Him?”

There are hands on him, attempting to pry him off.

Suddenly, someone much stronger manages to rip him off the downed Alpha and **throw** him aside, he stumbles, managing to land on his feet and spins back around, ready to fight, but he sees none other than Mushi looking at him with a stern look in his eyes. This manages to take the wind from his sails, but he’s still keyed up.

“Jet, I thought you were with my nephew.”

“I was.” spits Jet, he turns a caustic look in the group of Alphas’ direction, getting the same look in return, “But apparently these **assholes** here said something that got to him.”

An Alpha barks, “We didn’t say shit to him!”

Jet attempts to lunge, but Mushi holds him back, “Don’t lie to me!”

“Look,” another says, “we were just messing around, we didn’t mean anything by it.”

And **that** is what seems to rouse Mushi to action, the warmth disappears from his eyes, his smile vanishing, he stands taller, shoulders squared, the sudden switch leaves everyone reeling and has Jet doing a double take at the man now standing before him . . . this man is dangerous, this is a man with years of experience, this is a man who looks so much like a soldier, and this man has been crossed, Jet wonders if becoming Li’s guardian tampered this side of Mushi, or if it was something else.

“Leave.” Mushi says in a tone that brooks no backtalk, “Leave and never bother my nephew again.”

The younger Alphas scramble out of the shop, when Mushi turns to him, Jet is immediately on high alert . . . something about this side of Mushi makes him uneasy. It reminds him of fighting tooth and nail against Fire Nation soldiers in the forests, both sides desperate to win the skirmishes and live to see another day, or rather the feeling he gets is of fight or flight.

_Danger! Danger! Danger!_

His mind screams over and over.

Then the expression melts from the old Alpha’s face, and he is smiling once more as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn’t looked like he was ready to tear every Alpha apart for ever thinking of harassing his dear nephew, and it’s enough to knock Jet out of the strange trance he’d been in, violently so, for he stumbles a little, shocked beyond words.

“Please, tell Li that he’s free to take the rest of the day off.”

All Jet can do is nod, words refusing to leave the safety of his being.

“What is going on out here?!” the owner of the establishment demands, finally coming out from wherever he hides himself away at, he must see the defensive way Jet is standing for he turns to Mushi, “Mushi, is this young man giving you trouble?!”

And Mushi, the damned coot, just smiles that peaceful smile of his, “Not at all, Pao, I just asked him to deliver a message to my nephew, speaking of,” he wraps a friendly arm around the owner, “I think we should allow Li today off.”

With that, Mushi leads Pao from the scene, giving Jet a quick smile.

_What the fuck?_

Shaking himself out of it, he turns for the door and beats a hasty retreat, but as soon as he steps out of the shop, he spots a confused looking Li standing not too far away from the shop’s front door. Just the sight of Li is enough to melt the tension from his body, allowing him to smile as he trots the distance between them.

“What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw those Alphas from earlier run from the shop.” Li is staring off into the distance, as if he could see those same Alphas, his eyes then turn to Jet with an obvious glint of suspicion, “Did you have something to do with that?”

Jet frowns, “They made you upset, what was I supposed to do?”

Li stares, “What did you do?”

“I punched one of them in the face,” Jet looks away, “and nearly choked him out.”

This seems to take Li by surprise because he lets out an incredulous, “Why?!”

“I already told you! They upset you!” Jet then huffs, “Anyway, Mushi intervened before I could do any **serious** damage and told them to leave . . . and you’re free for the rest of the day.”

“ . . . oh.”

Sighing, Jet slips his hand into Li’s, “Why don’t we relax at my place for the rest of the day?”

Li looks to be thinking deeply about something, but doesn’t voice what he’s thinking and nods instead, “Okay.”

Allowing Jet to lead him along the streets and **trusting** him to make sure he doesn’t walk directly into someone, Zuko starts to drown in unwanted reminders of his earlier experience with those damned Alphas, those stupid Alphas and their stupid words, stupid, **stupid** words that have sunken in to his stupid, **stupid** brain . . . not a normal Omega: he wasn’t pretty, the hideous scar on his **face** made sure of that, his musculature turned potential suitors off, he probably didn’t look very _tempting_ in silks or veils, he didn’t have dewy doe eyes, his temper and behavior was volcanic, he **hated** touching his scent glands, because of this, they didn’t work properly, he **hated** his heats and avoided them at all cost, because of this, he produced little to no slick, he’d ruined his own body, and his inability to control his tongue was so not charming.

And while Jet was here, holding his hand, he was here because he **didn’t fucking know** about him being a firebender.

And how **stupid** is it that the thought of Jet **leaving** hurts him so much because . . . because this is the **happiest** he’s been since his mother disappeared, or died. Agni, he didn’t know what happened to her. And his uncle’s company only did so much. And now that he knew what it was like to have someone touch him like he were glass, like he were the most precious thing in the world . . . he couldn’t see himself going back to how he’d been before, not after Jet, and it was so fucking **terrifying.**

“Here we are~.”

Startling, Zuko watches Jet open the door to his abode and step in, bowing and gesturing dramatically . . . Zuko wants to roll his eyes, or something to that affect, instead, his traitorous body conjures up a suspicious stinging of the eyes. Angling his face away from Jet’s gaze, he walks into the shared apartment, he hears Jet shut the door, and as he starts to think of something to say to the other, he feels a pair of arms wrap around him and a chin resting on his shoulder.

“You’re perfect the way you are.”

Zuko tenses, “What . . . ?”

Jet buries his nose against the scent gland at the crook of his neck, “I know what those assholes said is still bothering you.”

The firebender feels his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows, “How . . . ?”

“I’m pretty perceptive when it comes to the people and things I care about.”

A sudden prick of guilt takes a stab at his chest, “Oh.”

_You don’t know a thing about me._

Zuko just couldn’t see how anyone could handle guilt, not when it was eating him alive, not when it was causing him this much pain . . . then again, he was **always** weak, ever since he was born . . . fingers turn his head to look at Jet, those same fingers then swipe at his right cheek.

“It’s okay.”

He hadn’t realized he was crying.

Crying which gets worse when Jet, with no hesitation, wipes at a tear on his scarred cheek.

Shutting his eyes, he turns in Jet’s arms and wraps his own around Jet, he surges forward and presses their lips together gracelessly, Jet stutters a moment at the sudden kiss, but he’s quick to wrap his arms around Zuko, pulling him close, treating him tender and shattering his heart even more. The pain in his chest fuels him to deepen the kiss, to press his body flush against Jet’s, to give a light nip at the taller male’s bottom lip.

The subsequent moan that comes from Jet fills the hole in his chest with desire.

_Mine. Mine. Mine._

The Omega within chants.

Jet pulls away soon enough, breathlessly, he says, “We should . . . stop.”

Before Zuko can ask **why** Jet would want to stop when it feels so good, until he feels something hard pressed against him, this time he’s the one that starts to pull away, but Jet keeps him in place.

“Please don’t look.”

Realizing just **what** it was that was pressing against him, he feels a sudden heat rush over him and . . . and now he’s so goddamn curious with a sudden urge to **touch**. Licking his lips, not realizing that Jet watches the action, he gives a hesitant roll of his hips, the hiss that leaves Jet’s mouth rushes straight to his own lower half.

Shivering, he asks, “Move this to your room?”

Jet swallows, “Li . . . ,”

“Please?”

The little plea from Li punches the breath out of him.

“L-Li . . . ,” god, he **stuttered** , “I don’t think . . . I don’t think we should, I mean . . . I’d really like to, fuck, **love** to even, but . . . shouldn’t, shouldn’t this be special? Shouldn’t we make it special?”

Was it weird that Jet is the one that wants their first time to be special? Maybe? No?

Li lets out a low growl, “Then **make** it special.”

And wow, Jet sure felt dizzy after that, the rest of his blood rushing straight to his already hard dick.

Li then does a roll of his hips again, the pressure from it has Jet seeing stars.

“Okay,” he wheezes, Li made a convincing argument and Jet was only human after all, “okay, my room.”

“Where else?”

Fuck.

Was Li teasing him?

Pulling Li into his room and shutting the door with a little too much force, he turns and gets an armful of Li once more, the paler male attempting to strip Jet of his shirts, which was definitely a good idea, so he helps in removing his clothes, absolutely **loving** how Li pushes him down on to his own bed, removing his own clothing.

“Wow.” Jet mutters out of nothing better to say, “Wow look at you.”

Why look when you can touch?

So he does, he reaches out and presses his palm to Li’s sternum, he hears the little gasp that escapes his boyfriend, most likely not having expected to be touched, but he recovers and **stalks** towards him, crawling on all fours until he hovers above him. Yup, Jet was definitely one lucky S.O.B. Li kisses him hungrily, allowing Jet to explore his warm body, but with Li kissing him, he can’t quite see what Li’s doing until he feels a hand wrap around the base of his swollen dick, the sudden touch making him hiss.

Li pulls away and sits back, eyes trained on his hard on . . . then proceeds to bring a hand just below his own mouth, and lets saliva drip from his tongue and onto his palm. Jet was going to die and he was completely fine with that, more than fine really.

“Hold on . . . ,” Jet manages to say, he then reaches for the nearby bedside table and digs around in the drawer until he finds what he’s looking for, his attention returns to Li and holds the bottle up, “ . . . this’ll make things smoother.”

Li takes the bottle, blinking as he studies it, “What is it?”

Jet coughs a little, “Oil, I uh . . . got it from my uh, coworkers.”

Li frowns at this but he opens the bottle and proceeds to fill the dip of his palm with oil, he closes the bottle and sets it aside, when he grabs Jet once more, Jet can’t stop the curse that leaves his throat, can’t stop the heat beginning to rise up to the tips of his ears with how intently Li was focusing on his cock . . . heavy and warm, an interesting combination that Zuko’s mind was heavily concentrating on, he licks his lips as he watches his own hand start to pump Jet, watch the tip of his dick disappear and reappear. It was . . . so interesting.

“Fuck!”

Jet swears so suddenly that it startles him, but his attention is soon directed to the strings of white shooting from the tip and onto his stomach, contrasting rather nicely with the tan of his skin if Zuko’s mind did say so itself, then the swelling of the base which his Omega half gleefully reminds him is a knot: **Jet’s** knot.

Before he can explore that particular area of Jet’s anatomy, the Alpha himself flips their positions and lies atop of him, pressing their arousals together and ruts against him, the slick slide of their cocks pulls a shameful moan from the firebender, one that immediately makes him want to cover his own mouth, but Jet takes care of it by covering his mouth with his own in a messy make out, uncaring of the mess they’re making, and soon the refugee prince is reaching his own climax, biting down onto Jet’s bottom lip, earning a growl from Jet in the process.

Sated, Jet rolls off of Li and pulls him close, not realizing that he’s purring until he feels a sudden twinge of his stomach, a familiar twinge in his stomach . . . his rut! He forgot all about his fucking rut!

It isn’t long before Li can smell it for he asks sluggishly, “What is that smell?”

“My rut.” Jet murmurs shamefaced, “We . . . triggered my rut.”

Li stares at him wide eyed, “Oh.”

“Sorry.”

“I . . . I guess we’ll share your rut.”

Jet chokes, “What?”

“We just had . . . if I were to leave now, that would be bad for you. I’ve . . . been around Alphas who’d gone through their ruts,” he must see the look on Jet’s face for he quickly interrupts himself, “they didn’t try anything! They were my . . . they were friends of my uncle, they were more concerned with making sure that I was healthy and safe. I often ended up with more food than I could eat.”

Jet lets that sink in, then finally says, “We’re doing this, huh?”

“If you want that is.”

The Alpha curls around his boyfriend, “I do.”

“Then we are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JET'S RUT HAS BEEN TRIGGERED! Zuko was talking about his crew in case that wasn't obvious, but he can't let Jet know that because that would open up more questions . . . .

**Author's Note:**

> Read. Comment. Do what you like so long as it's nice.


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